I SO need today’s post by guest blogger, Christine Kane! Here are 5 tips that are sure to kick us out of our exercise ruts – just in time for the warmer weather and shedding some of that winter weight.

If you’ve found yourself blowing off workouts and making excuses not to hit the gym or lace up your shoes repeatedly then it might be that you’ve finally hit a big brick wall in terms of your workouts. Exercise slumps happen to the best of us, and can be extremely frustrating and demotivating.

But before you toss in the towel you may just need to shift your perspective to find a renewed sense of motivation. Try some of these tips to help beat the slump:

1. Take a break

To those of us who are hardcore exercise enthusiasts this is a tough one to swallow. Take a break? Not me, there’s no way I could ever do that! But sometimes the best way to revive your love for exercise is to take a break and let your body rest for a bit before it starts to crave working out again. This can range anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, but once that spark is gone sometimes it’s your body’s way of telling you it needs a break.

2. Change it up

The great thing about exercising is there is no set way to do it. If you’re a runner who has a severe case of running burnout then hit the weight room or bust out a bike and ride the trails, and if you’re a step class junkie then try a different exercise class like kickboxing or yoga. There are so many different ways to get in and stay in shape that it’s virtually impossible not to find new and exciting ways to love it.

3. Switch up the intensity

Going for long, steady-paced walks or runs every day or hitting the weight room and lifting the same sets of weights is great, but if you’ve hit a wall and don’t feel like you’re improving or don’t want to do it anymore then try changing up the intensity. Start incorporating HIIT (high intensity interval training) by alternating easy minutes of exercise with harder minutes, or graduate up to a heavier set of weights to start feeling the burn again. At some point things will become stagnant which is a good sign that you’re ready to tackle something harder.

4. Change the way you workout

If you normally workout by yourself try working out with a friend to make the time fly by faster. If you normally workout with others, then approach it solo to find some solitude. And if you normally work out without music then turn on the tunes and vice versa. Even the smallest of changes can make the biggest differences when you’re battling an exercise slump.

5. Set new goals

If you’re personal record as far as running distance goes is running a 5k then sign up and start training for a 10k. If you’ve been debating entering a fitness competition then there’s no better time than the present. If you’re interested in teaching yoga then start getting certified. Sometimes the best way to find renewed motivation is to set new goals that you can work on and push towards.

Exercise slumps aren’t the end-all to your fitness days, so don’t be discouraged if you find yourself in a rut, just try taking different steps towards getting out of it. You’ll be back at it in no time.

About the Author

This Guest post is by Christine Kane, a graduate of Communication and Journalism. She enjoys writing about a wide-variety of subjects including internet service for different blogs. She can be reached via email at: Christi.Kane00 @ gmail.com.

Do you have a tip to share with us in how you get out of your exercise ruts?

I’m always looking for new exercises to keep things interesting. Here’s a guest post by Abby Evans about the Bar Method. By the way, she’s not affiliated with this company in anyway, she just started these classes while recovering from an injury and fell in love with them! 

In a time where you can choose from three to five different gyms, a yoga studio and let’s not forget Zumba, it can be hard to choose your fitness preference. As a half marathon runner, I prefer to hit the pavement as much as possible, but when I got a stress fracture this past winter, I had to re-evaluate my fitness regime.

Enter the Bar Method. I found my local studio thanks to LivingSocial. I was looking for a low impact option to get myself back in a workout routine. Being in a boot for two months, I wasn’t strong enough for running.

What is the Bar Method?

According to their corporate website, the Bar Method, “integrates the fat burning format of interval training, the muscle shaping technique of isometrics, the elongating principles of dance conditioning, and the science of physical therapy to create a revolutionary new workout that quickly and safely reshapes your entire body.”

What to Expect

The class is one-hour and is a total body workout. You start each class with a quick warm-up and then hit the free-weights. Once your arms are nice and warm from your free-weight workout, you add to the burn with some push-ups.

Then the fun really begins. While at the bar you will get an intense leg and seat work-out. Then you finish the hour working your abs.

Why Might You Like it?

There are numerous reasons why you might like these classes. What initially drew me to these classes was the low impact of the exercises. If you have any type of injuries, this could be a great way to stay fit and not escalate your injury.

Of course, make sure to discuss anything with your doctor before making the leap. If you have a knee brace, feel free to wear it to class, and discuss modifications with your instructor.

Just like yoga or Pilates there are different modifications to each exercise. This allows you to work up to challenging options, but in a safe environment. Unlike yoga, the Bar Method doesn’t focus on the spiritual aspect of exercise.

The Bar Method also differs from Pilates because it, “uses the body’s own weight to isolate, strengthen, and sculpt all major muscle groups. Pilates exercises are largely performed in a sitting or prone position while the Bar Method’s exercises take place both at the ballet bar and on mats.”

About the Author

Abby Evans is an avid blogger and loves writing about fitness. In her spare time she is training for half marathons and finding the perfect knee brace for running.

Have you gone to a Bar Method class? Let us know your experience in the comments below.

If you’ve stuck with your New Year’s Intention of hitting the gym more consistently, then you’ll get a load of valuable information from today’s guest post. Jonathan Dunsky gives us 5 useful tips to do more in less time!

We live in hectic times. We work long hours, have to struggle through sluggish traffic when we go to and return from work, and after cleaning, cooking, and spending time with our family, not a lot of time is left to take care of ourselves.

This is partly why so many people these days are out of shape. There is simply not enough time to do efficient and effective workouts. This is also why I want to share with you the following 5 tips to help you do short yet powerful workouts that should fit the schedule of the most time-crunched people.

1. Have a workout plan

Whenever I workout at a gym I see a lot of people with confused, uncertain looks on their faces. It’s as if they don’t really know what they’re supposed to do next. Their gaze wanders from one machine to the next and they can’t make up their mind which exercise to perform and with which equipment to do it.

This costs them a lot of time and also reduces the effectiveness of their workout because it leads to long breaks between exercises.

To prevent this from happening to you, you need to come prepared. Create a workout plan in advance with all the exercises you plan on doing and with all the sets and weights written down clearly. This way, you won’t have any confusion. You’ll know exactly what to do at all times.

2. Have Bodyweight Alternatives Ready

If your gym is not well-stocked with fitness gear or you go there during busy times of the day, you may find yourself waiting in line for some strength machine or weights. This can be a big time waster.

Since you can’t be sure this won’t happen, you need to prepare bodyweight alternatives to all the exercises you do (or to as many of them as you can).

For instance, you can do push-ups instead of a barbell chest press and triceps push-ups instead of dips and squats when the leg press machine is occupied. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s better to keep the rhythm of the workout than to be hooked on any specific exercise. Bodyweight training is very effective and you should use it.

3. Watch the Clock

Workout time at the gym is composed of two main things: the actual lifting time and the resting time between sets. The resting time is usually what determines whether your workout is time-efficient or not. A lot of people rest too long between sets. They think that they rest for about 60 seconds, but it can easily get to two or three times as much.

Each gym has a clock on the wall. You need to make use of it to time the length of your rests. Only when you do so can you keep them short. This will help you do more powerful workouts and shorter ones too.

4. Carry a Water Bottle

If you workout hard, you will likely find yourself in need of some hydration. Usually there are a number of water fountains in any respectable gym. The problem is that you may get stuck behind someone who is a slow drinker or someone who’s decided to fill up his water bottle right at that exact moment.

To avoid wasting your time going to the water fountain and waiting there, I recommend bringing a big bottle with you to the gym. I can drink about a full liter in a workout and some guys I know drink even more. Being hydrated will also help you do more intense workouts.

5. Do More Circuits

One of the best ways to create a more intense workout experience is to squeeze more work in less time. This is easily done by performing more super-sets and circuits than regular, one exercise at a time, sets.

These days I usually do circuits with 4 exercises one after the other. The intensity of my workouts is much higher but I’ve managed to cut down my workout time in half. It’s incredible.

To summarize, there are plenty of things you can do to cut your workout time short while still doing intense fat burning workout routines that will help you get rid of flab and build muscle.

You should:

1. Have a workout plan
2. Have bodyweight alternatives to each exercise
3. Watch the clock between sets
4. Carry a water bottle
5. Do more circuits

If you do these 5 things, you will cut your workout time down dramatically. Got any more ideas to make your workouts shorter? Share them by leaving a comment below.

About the Author

Jonathan Dunsky blogs at http://www.WorldOfDiets.com where he writes about fast fat loss tips and easy to follow nutrition guidelines for a healthier life.

I can really relate to Jonathan’s tip of `watching the clock’. Especially if I’m working out with someone, I tend to rest a bit longer than 1 minute between sets… too busy chatting. Thanks for the gentle reminder, Jonathan!

If your life has been as hectic and chaotic as mine since before the holidays, then you, too, might be looking for some inspiration to get more physical. I didn’t realize how much I miss my regular yoga routine until I read this guest post by Sarah Stevenson (a.k.a. The Tini Yogini). 

I have been practicing yoga for about 10 years now. I took my first class shortly after my son was born. The moment he looked into my eyes, I had an awakening of a peace and tranquility that I’d never been aware of—and from that moment, I embarked on a journey to seek out ways to keep this peace awake inside me.

Eventually, this search drew me to yoga and there I found the peace I was looking for.

Today, as an instructor, I have such a fervent desire to share the benefits that yoga has brought me with any who care to learn. Here is what I have found from my personal practice:

Strengthens the body

Yoga poses are held in place for 5 to 10 breaths. You are using your own body weight to place resistance on your muscles. As is the case with any resistance exercise, this creates tiny tears in the muscle tissue. When your body senses the tears, healer cells are sent to the site to heal and build new fibers that increase the size and strength of the muscle. Many poses offer the benefit of weight bearing exercise in which your muscle works against gravity. Which builds and strengthens bones, creating increased bone density.

Calms the mind

The flow of the asanas (poses) and constant focus on breath is very healing to the mind. The Ujjayi breath is used in yoga throughout the entire class. It is characterized by deep inhale through the nose in which the belly expands outward and deep exhales through the nose in which the belly sinks inward. Narrowing the throat passage creates an “ocean sound” as the breath brushes against the back of the throat. The inhalations and exhalations are equal in duration, and are controlled in a manner. Ujjayi is a balancing and calming breath, which increases oxygenation and builds internal body heat.

Increased Flexibility

Yoga combines body positions that allow you to get in touch with various joints in the body, especially ones that are rarely seen or exercised. Without a yoga practice it is likely that some of these joints would go completely untouched in a lifetime.

Lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons

Yoga asanas exercise different tendons and ligaments in your body. With a consistent practice you can enter a class with a very rigid body and quite quickly become more flexible and supple. Why? Seemingly unrelated, nonassertive yoga poses act upon certain parts of the body in a symbiotic way. When these poses flow together they make flexibility possible and attainable in a seemingly short period of time.

Massages all organs of the body

Yoga is likely the only known form of exercise that is able to massage each and every organ in the body. This includes the prostate – which hardly gets externally stimulated during an entire lifetime. Yoga acts in a holistic manner on each of your body parts. When our organs lay sedentary we are prone to disease and eventually death of function. Stimulated organs are healthy organs.

Complete Detoxification

Stretching muscles and joints as well as massaging the organs provides optimum blood supply to various parts of the body. This aids in the clearing out of toxins from every corner of the body as well as providing nourishment up to the last point. This leads to the benefits of delayed aging, energy and an unshakable zest for life.

These are only a few of the scores of benefits. The practice of yoga harmonizes the body, mind and soul in a natural, safe way. When these three are connected you find that you have the ability to accomplish incredible physical and mental tasks. Yoga has changed my life and I know it can do the same for you.

About the Author

Sarah Stevenson (a.k.a. The Tini Yogini) is a Certified Yoga Instructor in Southern California. She has a degree in Behavioral Psychology and teaches not only yoga classes but also life affirming workshops. She also writes for Beachbody, which provides effective and popular workout videos and health products including the Ultimate Reset Cleanse and P90X2 Workouts.

That’s it! I’m scheduling yoga into this week’s action plan. Oh ya. Who’s with me?

Are you thinking of purchasing a Wii gaming system to get your exercise in and finally lose that weight you’ve been talking about shedding since New Year’s? Here’s a guest post that discusses the effectiveness of fitness games and whether they’re a wise investment or not.

With the invention of motion detection technology on new gaming systems such as the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox Kinect, games that include a high level of activity have become the latest thing. Perhaps you’ve been to a “Dance Central” party or played a vigorous game of virtual tennis with your kids.

If your video game experience left you sweaty and feeling like you just finished at the gym, congratulations! You’ve been exergaming.

How are we all doing on our 2012 intentions? For all those who wish to improve their physical health this year, last week we learned how eating after 7pm affects our weight-loss efforts and this week guest blogger, Latasri, tells us about functional training, which helps make daily activities effortless! 

Any kind of exercise that is directly related to your routine activities is called functional training. So, if you are a cycling champ or a marathon runner, a cricketer or an athlete, or a simple homemaker who wishes to be fit, a mother of twins who wishes to carry your child(ren) without injuries, functional training is all that you need.

Aping the activities that we do in our routine life, therapists and physical trainers have developed exercises that put us in our comfort zone and yet help to change our lives. It is popularly known as functional training.

If your job involves a lot of running around or even repeated heavy lifting, functional training is the kind of rehab aimed at helping you perform the activity without affecting your body. As a widely accepted form of physical training, it is known to target the core muscles and strengthens them to adjust your work pattern and lifestyle.

Now, the buzzword of the fitness world, functional strength training has a broad-based meaning and significance. Therefore, it is crucial to understand it before one adapts to the regime.

Here’s a sense of what is being called the next level of fitness:

1. Works against body’s resistance: It is a routine that helps one to perform daily activities with ease. Whether it is walking, running, jumping, bending, standing, climbing, these activities need functional strength. And, in functional training it is vital that your body is trained to every specific movement of the muscles. Therefore, each time you take up doing squats, it increases your ability to rise easily from any seat, even if it’s yours from the floor.
2. Burns calories through unsupported movements: What began a decade ago, functional training is a simple discovery to physical strength by practicing movement training with resistance. These movements are objected to bring activity in the core muscle as they are mostly unsupported. For example, lifting a bag over the shoulder is equal to squat to shoulder press – a form of functional fitness training that burns calories through unsupported movements.
3. Part and parcel of our regular movements: Functional fitness is best known as a way to get our body accustomed to everyday rigorous pattern while it also helps to burn excess calories. Hence, functional training is the safest form of exercise, weight loss and to attain a fit body. If you’re unable to exercise, some trainers do suggest wearing a Flex belt or using trx training programs. This helps the body lose weight without any effort.
4. Exercise with all the safety: Functional training movements incorporate about 29 muscles of the body. It helps to continue exercising with all the safety ensuring you freedom of movement. Differing from the common forms of exercise that have one range of movement, functional training (like the most commonly used treadmill) ensure movements have resistance of planes and makes the complete body as one unit. This is also why functional training brings balance, co-ordination and focus, ensuring a mind-body connection.

Due to its simplicity and movements, which range from daily life to sports specific action, functional training is a regime that can be taken up by one and all.

About the Author

Latasri is a health and fitness enthusiast who likes to share her experiences with others. She is always on the look out for discounts and coupons for weight loss. In her website she makes available coupon for trx and flex belt coupons, two weight loss programs on Flex Belts and trx training.

I love functional training because generally you see and feel the results sooner because suddenly you notice your most common daily activities getting easier and easier to perform. What are some of your daily activities that you’d like to do with more ease and effectiveness? 

ince moving last spring, my routine went out the door. I’ve even been considering investing in a gym membership since we’re still in the middle of renos but after reading this guest post by Rahim (a.k.a. The Homebody), I’m pumped to save money and reinvigorate my home fitness routine!

These days we all have a hectic schedule. A lot of us are taking second jobs or helping out loved ones and there just isn’t enough time in the day to hit the gym on a regular basis anymore. So what do we do?

Well I figured out a few years ago that while I spent 20 minutes going to the gym, 2 hours IN the gym and 20 minutes back home that I pretty much eliminated 3 hours of my day to do something that should only last about 90 minutes tops.

One morning I woke up earlier than usual and as I was laying there I got the notion to roll out of bed and do 30 push ups. From there I did 25 burpees and that led into 40 squats. Then it hit me!

Why was I going to the gym (sometimes in rush hour traffic, thus stressing me out) when I could have a home fitness routine right here in my own home?

A home fitness routine can be just as effective as going to the gym if you approach it with the same consistency and dedication. There are no lines to wait in to use a machine, there’s no gym etiquette and there’s no expensive gym membership to worry about.

3 ways to have fun building a great home fitness routine:

1. Designate your space.

You’re working out at home now but you don’t want to put your safety at risk. You want to clear a designated space for yourself where you can do your workouts safely and efficiently. A spare bedroom, the living room or any space where you don’t have to worry about tripping on anything will do.

Make sure you’re comfortable in your space.  Do you have a mirror so you can see yourself? This is important for things like weight training exercises or any exercises where strength and form is crucial. A mirror also helps you build confidence while you train and see your progress.

2. Pick and choose your battle time.

Are you a morning person or are you at your peak in the evening? Whichever one you are, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is sticking to a set schedule. Working out randomly can interfere with rest time in between workouts which effect growth and development. Also, a home fitness routine will ensure that you have a 24 hour gym open to you at your pleasure.

If you’re a morning person, consider waking up an hour earlier so you can get a good workout in without worrying about time. A morning workout gets your blood circulating and will give you energy throughout the day.

If you’re an evening person, use that energy to get moving. An evening workout is great for working off built up stress that’s accumulated throughout the day. Whether it’s morning or evening, they’re benefits to both.

3. Establish your routine.

This is the fun part. What do you want out of your workout? You would ask yourself this question in a regular gym and the same question needs to be answered at your home gym. Now that you have your designated space and time, this question shouldn’t be hard to answer.

The beautiful thing about home fitness training is you dictate what goes in your gym. So what’s it gonna be for cardio training? Jump rope? Elliptical? Upright exercise bike? Tread climber? It’s all up to you, your space and your budget.

Victory loves preparation so make sure you do your necessary research before committing to a machine. Until then, there’s nothing wrong with calisthenic cardio (jumping jacks, running in place).

How about your strength training? Are you into free weights? Body weight training? Both? They each have benefits. Free weight training can sculpt and strengthen your muscles giving you a defined physique while body weight training relies on using your own body weight for resistance. Both methods are good for your bodies and can be done just as efficiently in your home gym.

A home fitness routine was the best thing I could have done for my busy schedule. I spend more time at home, it’s less stressful, I get a great workout and I’m saving a ton of money.

I like to get family involved when I workout sometimes. It’s fun to get in shape with the people you love. So get a partner in on it with you. The company gives great motivation and keeps you focused on your routine. If you’re loner, set up that play list on your stereo and really get moving.

However you decide to construct your home fitness routine, make sure it’s done for you and your needs.

About the Author

Rahim aka The Homebody decided to take his show on the…living room floor. After realizing how much time, money and energy he saved with home fitness training, he’s never been happier. Always looking for new and exciting ways of staying in shape, he never stops progressing.

Do you have a home fitness routine? What do you have (or wish to have) in your home gym?

Although Mother Nature dumped another whack of snow on us this week here in Toronto, in other parts of the world the weather’s warming up. Time to get outside and enjoy that green grass! Today guest blogger, Gordon Cherwoniak, shares with us the beauty of getting fit with golf.

Do you dread the idea of going to the gym or exercising in general? Don’t worry, most people do! It is really hard to start an exercise regimen, especially after not engaging in any physical activity for awhile.

The problem is, you are associating getting fit with specific types of physical exercise when you should be looking at ways to simply get active and have fun. Golf is voted as one of the number one social hobbies for anyone of either sex and any age group to do to get in shape and improve their health for a number of reasons.

Easy On Your Joints

Since golf is a low impact activity, anyone can do it. Many people have difficulty running or cycling because of bad knees or ankles but walking is something that can be done by anyone. Not to mention, golf courses have lovely greens which means extra cushioning too!

Burn Calories

Walking is voted the number one exercise to lose weight so before you get the idea that you’re going to just grab a golf cart, think again! Yes, you may need a golf cart for half the course if you are a beginner but eventually you can work your way up to walking the whole thing which will take care of your daily quota of 10,000 steps.

Golf bag a little heavy for you? Push carts are a life saver so you don’t have to carry that 20 pound bag with your Big Bertha Diablo drivers the whole time but you should get in the habit of carrying it a bit so you can build some upper body strength.

Mental Health

Not only does golf help sharpen your mind because you are actually exercising your brain through the whole game, it also improves your mental health.

Endorphins are released when you exercise which are essentially happy hormones. The endorphins are instant mood enhancers that will allow you to see things more clearly, control your stress and cope with any curve-balls that come your way throughout your day.

It is suggested that when the mind can be relaxed, the body can be healthy. The most dangerous type of weight gain is that which is stress induced because it typically gathers around your midsection, increasing your risk for heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer.

Golf is the perfect activity to enjoy to get in shape, calm your mind and achieve maximum health.

About the Author

Gordon Cherwoniak is currently completing a Master’s in International Trade when he’s not on the course using his new personalized golf gifts he received from his wife. He resides in Saskatoon, SK and also enjoys karate, computer gaming and is training for another triathlon.

Two weeks ago Canada revised their physical activity guidelines. Great new, right? Not so much considering they actually lowered their minimum daily requirements. And it’s got a few healthy folks spitting hellfire, like Dr. Ali Zentner, obesity expert on CBCs Village on a Diet.

The same day mainstream media announced Canada’s new activity guidelines (which failed to clearly state daily minimums were reduced in the revisions), I jumped into a conference call with three of the health pros who helped the town of Taylor, BC in reaching their goal of losing a ton of collective weight. (Check out my review of Village on a Diet.)

The call started early and I caught only a fraction of Dr. Ali Zentner’s passionate review of the new guidelines. She’s a physician specializing in obesity and cardiac risk management, and last Friday I had the pleasure of speaking with this vivacious spitfire about the subject.

(She confessed she was especially spirited during our interview with “vinegar in her belly” as she was on-call at the time, activating her “war mode.”)

Who’s Dr. Ali Zentner?

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the new guidelines, I’d like to introduce you to Dr. Zentner. Besides her impressive medical credentials, there are few facts that make her special. She’s struggled with obesity all her life but when she hit med school, between stress, poor diet and long, irregular hours, she tipped the scales at nearly 330 pounds and became morbidly obese.

Since then, Ali has lost 180 pounds, runs marathons and triathlons, gave up her car in lieu of a bike in order to fit physical activity into her schedule and was recently an Olympic torchbearer! For fun, she’s a fictional novelist, “A Good Life” (described as, “Sex in the City meets ER“), contributes articles, is featured in others offering health advice and writes for her blog, Girlfriend’s Guide to Health.

The Issue with Canada’s New Activity Guidelines

While the Public Health Agency of Canada has taken down the old activity guidelines from their site (actually, they don’t have the new ones posted either, you must now go to the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology for them), GlobalNews.ca mentioned them in their article:

Previous guidelines recommended children and youth work towards getting at least 90 minutes of physical activity a day. The daily target for adults was at least 60 minutes daily, while older adults were recommended to accumulate 30 to 60 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days.

As for the new activity guidelines:

…children and youth aged five to 17 get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity daily. This should include both vigorous-intensity activities and muscle and bone-strengthening activities at least three days a week.

Adults aged 18 to 64 and older adults 65 and up are recommended to get at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, in bouts of 10 minutes or more.

The decrease in minimum daily activity is apparent for kids, but what’s even more disturbing is how they’ve chosen to word their recommendations for adults: 150 minutes per week which works out to be a mere 21.5 minutes per day!

There are some perks to these new guidelines, specifically, informing Canadians that there are different intensities of exercise and muscle-building activities needed to realize health benefits (where’s calisthenics, i.e. stretching?), as well as suggesting “more is better.”

Despite these positive changes, Dr. Ali Zentner is seething about the reductions.

“Since when did we lower the bar to let more people into the club?” Apparently these new guidelines reflect more on what most Canadians are currently doing rather than on science. Ali looks at large population studies, like those published from the American Heart Association, to guide her recommendations:

For most healthy people: For health benefits to the heart, lungs and circulation, perform any moderate-to-vigorous-intensity aerobic activity for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week at 50–85 percent of your maximum heart rate.

To safely exercise, you must slowly increase your heart rate to its maximum and then slowly decrease it to avoid shocking the body. Considering this, with 5-minutes each to warm up and cool down, we’re looking at an effective cardiovascular workout lasting at least 40 minutes per session.

Of course, the following sentence on the American Heart Association’s website concurs with the Canadian recommendations:

You can accumulate 30 minutes in 10 or 15 minute sessions. What’s important is to include physical activity as part of a regular routine.

“We’re dumbing down the argument,” says Ali, and the message Canada [and America] is sending to its citizens is, “Anything is better than nothing.” While that is technically true, Dr. Zentner is concerned that lowering standards is the wrong approach.

“It’s like the government saying, `You can pay your taxes whenever you feel like it.’,” Ali said while half-laughing with barely disguised disgust. “Canada should be encouraging its citizens to be their healthiest and best!”

How Should Canada Approach Healthy Living?

When we’re discussing health, a life and death issue, we can’t afford to worry about hurting people’s feelings, says Dr. Zentner. Being overweight, obese or a cardiac risk (which many skinny-fat people are), is due to lifestyle choices. Telling people this often triggers them to blame themselves for their current situation.

Meanwhile, the truth may hurt but it’s a necessary evil in order for people to wake up and strive to be better. To help Canadians overcome guilt and blame, health professionals can empower people with the right information, tools, attitude and encourage them to take personal responsibility through small changes.

Ali is a strong proponent for a proactive solution. When asked about taxing junk and fast food, suggested by some health professionals treating overweight and obesity, like Dr. Robert Pretlow in Overweight: What Kids Say (read my book review), she vehemently disagreed with a sugar tax. She said it didn’t work in the past, citing England’s sugar tax, and that it was ineffective to punish those who don’t know better or who aren’t ready for a change.

Instead, Dr. Zentner suggests we use a tax relief system for healthy living. For instance, Nova Scotia has provided a Healthy Living Tax Credit for youth to cover the costs of organized sports and activities since 2005, and was about to expand it to adults in 2008 until it was deferred due to reelections and provincial budgetary restraints. (source: thecoast.ca)

Unfortunately, I failed to locate a current evaluation of the impact of Nova Scotia’s healthy living tax credit on its youth. However, I did find an interesting paper published by the Library of Parliament on the subject suggesting multiple economic instruments Canada can use to promote healthy living. By the way, it concluded that more research was needed. Surprise!

Some of Dr. Zentner’s suggestions:

• Make it difficult for industries to bed with government policy-makers.
• Tougher laws on food marketing initiatives/packaging. For instance, Ali says the `heart healthy’ labelling on many foods are a joke.
• Better health standards with fast food outlets, like posting calorie counts on menus.
• Forbid juice and pop machines in schools.
• Include nutrition and calorie information in home economics.
• Tax exemptions on public transit and tax credits for home gym equipment.
• Include obesity training in med school so docs are better equipped for treating patients who struggle with weight issues.

As we wrapped up the interview, Ali had some words of wisdom for Canadian government officials and health professionals, “We all must take a long, hard look at what we’ve been doing and ask if we’re part of the problem. If you find you’re not part of the solution, then you need to change sides.”

As for all of us as Canadian citizens, including policy-makers and health pros alike, Dr. Zentner asks us to reevaluate what we’re doing in regards to healthy living and ask for more.

So do you agree with Ali that Canada’s reduced standards are hindering progress? Or do you think by including more effort (intensity) in our activities as the new guidelines suggest, we would be using our time more effectively thereby reducing the total physical activity time needed to achieve the same results?

Fitting fitness in is always more fun when you’re trying new workouts. Guest blogger, Jamie DeSanto, tells us about CrossFit, a fitness routine that’s gaining in popularity because of it’s holistic attributes.

Simply put, CrossFit is everything! It’s strength, endurance, cardio, you name it. It’s about being so in shape that you can handle any physical obstacle that comes your way.

This type of training regimen is used by elite military and police units, mixed martial artists and professional athletes.  What might surprise you, though, is it’s also the type of training regimen used by grandfathers battling heart disease!

The key to CrossFit is a holistic approach to fitness. As much as bodybuilders with a gross amount of muscle mass are avoided, so are the marathon runners with zero muscle mass who are only fit to run long distances.

It stresses not only cardiovascular endurance but also strength, speed, balance, stamina, power, coordination, flexibility, agility and accuracy in repeating movements and processes. This form of complete fitness is not only prized in elite athletics and military operations, but in everyday life as well.

Think about it, how often does anyone need to run 26.2 miles? Only when they run a marathon, of course. Now think about the fitness required to carry your three-year-old for an extended period of time at the fair when she’s decided she’s had enough.

CrossFit achieves this complete level of fitness through interval training. What this means is there’s a focus on variance instead of repetition in each session.

Rather than just running or weight training, there’s an emphasis on activities that grow the 10 general physical skills listed above (flexibility, agility, etc.). This means activities such as gymnastics, throwing medicine balls in addition to lifting weights, and mixing in sprinting with distance running. This works to develop both aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels, when in past training programs, the two were considered mutually exclusive.

In addition, CrossFit dispels the myths of fad diets as a path to fitness. It prescribes well-rounded nutritional practices, including fat, proteins and carbohydrates. Without the proper fuel in your system, you won’t be able to keep up with even a lower level training regimen, and are only doing yourself harm.

The key here is that a good diet and a good fitness level are much better to overall wellness than a fad diet that might cause someone to lose weight, but not in a sustainable or healthy manner.

Finally, CrossFit is as right for grandfathers with heart disease as it is for champion martial artists. That’s because CrossFit’s lack of specialization, focusing on all areas of fitness, means that it’s just a matter of adjusting the level of intensity for the appropriate party. The grandfather and the martial artist have the same core needs, just like everyone else, it’s simply a matter of degree.

About the Author

Jamie DeSanto is a writer for Online Nursing Programs where you can browse the best online nursing programs in the country.

Have you tried CrossFit? How was it for you and can you add anything to this post?