ARE YOU IN SHAPE?

Are you physically fit? What makes a person physically fit?
A runner may be able to complete a 5k race, but is his upper body strong enough? A bodybuilder can lift a tremendous amount of weight, but is his heart or cardiovascular strength as developed as his biceps? Can the runner and bodybuilder touch their toes from bending at the waist? All of these are different aspects of physical fitness.
According the American Council on Exercise (ACE), a non profit organization which sets certification standards for over 40,000 fitness professionals nationwide, physical fitness is measured by three catergories: Strength, Cardiovascular Endurance and Flexibility. ACE has some simple evaluations to help you find your fitness level according to gender and age group.
The following charts are guidelines. Please consult a fitness professional to administer each evaluation. As always, consult with your physician before beginning or attempting any exercise program.


SITUPS

AGE <35 35 - 44 45+
GENDER M F M F M F
Excellent 60+ 50+ 50+ 40+ 40+ 30+
Good 45 40 40 30 25 15
Average 30 25 25 15 15 10
Poor 15 10 10 6 5 4


PUSHUPS

AGE 15 - 19 20 - 29 30 - 39 40 - 49 50 - 59
GENDER M F M F M F M F M F
Excellent 39+ 33+ 36 30 30 27 24 22 21 21
Good 29 25 29 21 22 20 17 15 13 11 Average 23 18 22 15 17 13 13 11 10 7
Poor 18 17 17 10 12 8 10 7 7 2


SIT AND REACH

AGE 18 - 25 26 - 35 36 - 45 46 - 55 56 - 65
GENDER M F M F M F M F M F
Excellent 20+ 24+ 20+ 23+ 19+ 22+ 19+ 21+ 17+ 20+
Good 27 20 17 19 15 17 14 17 12 16
Average 15 18 15 18 13 17 12 15 10 15
Poor 13 17 12 16 11 15 10 14 8 14


3 MINUTE STEP TEST

AGE 18 - 25 26 - 35 36 - 45 46 - 55 56 - 65 66+
GENDER M F M F M F M F M F Excellent <79 <85 <81 <88 <83 <90 <87 <94 <88 <95
Good 89 98 89 99 96 102 97 104 98 105
Average 105 117 107 119 112 118 116 120 118 122
Poor 128 140 128 140 130 140 130 140 130 140

You can drop 10 pounds this year without lifting a weight, without starting a diet, and without lacing up your running shoes. In fact, it’s what you DON’T do that will get rid of those extra ten lbs. Simply DON’T eat those extra 100 calories a day.

100 calories are easy to find – we’ll go over that later. Here’s is why it works:
By leaving out 100 calories per day, you are eating 36,500 less calories a year. (100 calories a day x 365 days in a year = 36,500 calories). It takes a decrease of 3,500 calories to lose one pound of fat. A decrease of 35,000 adds up to 10 pounds of fat…10 pounds of excess fat off of your body!

According to the American Heart Association, as of 2005, there were 140 million overweight or obese people in the United States. 72 million of them were men, 68 million women. Overweight is defined as a BMI of 25+. Obesity is a BMI of 30+. Overweight and Obesity -- Statistics.

Just think of how well you can do if you add in exercise, too. If you burn 100 calories a day through exercise and skip another 100 from food, it will equal 200 calories a day. That, in turn, will equal twenty pounds of fat gone from your body this year! Burning 100 calories with exercise is easy: (at a casual pace, for a150lbs. person)Ride a bike for 10 minutes, jog for 12 minutes, play tennis for 15 minutes, walk for 30 minutes. Start today!

100 extra calories that you can go without:
1. 1 can of soda (12 ounces)
2. ½ of a Klondike Ice Cream Bar
3. 1/3 of a Good Humor Ice Cream Sandwich
4. 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise
5. 2 McDonalds Chicken McNuggets
6. 15 potato chips
7. 6 potato French fries
8. 15 French fries
9. 2 tablespoons of sugar
10. 1/3 order of a small Arby’s Curly Fries
11. 1 tablespoon of butter
12. 1 pretzel rod
13. ½ order of McDonalds French Fries (small)
14. 1 can of Iced Tea (12 ounces)
15. 1 slice of white bread
16. ½ glass of chocolate milk
17. 1 regular beer
18. 2 Oreos
19. 1 shot of most liquors
20. ½ glass of wine
21. 8 Reese’s Pieces BITE size
22. 2 Kit Kat sticks
23. ½ Milky Way Midnite
24. 2 ½ Milky Way Mini’s
25. ½ Dunkin Donuts Chocolate Frosted Donut
26. 5 marshmallows
27. ½ a brownie (most brands)
28. 2 ½ Burger King Chicken Tenders
29. 1 ounce Burger King Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
30. ½ order of Burger King French Fries (small)
31. 2 tablespoons pancake syrup
32. ½ cup of sherbet (most brands)
33. ½ cup sorbet (most brands)
34. 1 tablespoon peanut butter (most brands)
35. 2 raviolis, large (most brands)
36. 5 raviolis, mini (most brands)
37. 1/3 slice of pie (most brands)
38. 1/3 piece of cake (most brands)
39. 1 ounce of pasta (most brands)
40. 2 ‘pigs in a blanket’ (most brands)
41. 2 slices of bacon (most brands)
42. ½ buttermilk biscuit (most brands)
43. 2 tablespoon hollandaise sauce
44. 1/3 cinnamon bun
45. 2 TWIX Mini’s
46. ½ bag of M&M’s
47. 2 tablespoons caramel syrup
48. 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
49. 2 Chips Ahoy! Chocolate chip cookies
50. 2 Oreos
51. 20 croutons (most brands)
52. 2 tablespoons cream cheese (most brands)
53. 1/5 Dairy Queen Choc. Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard (small)
54. 2 tablespoons cake frosting (most brands)
55. 1 ice cream cone (empty)
56. 1 KFC drumstick (regular)
57. 2 tablespoons pesto sauce (most brands)
58. 1/3 piece French bread frozen pizza (most brands)
59. 1 pudding (small)
60. 2 tablespoons Caesar salad dressing (most brands)
61. 4 tablespoons BBQ sauce
62. 2 tablespoons walnut ice cream topping
63. ½ of a hamburger bun or roll
64. 1/3 cup of half and half cream
65. 3 tablespoons sour cream
66. 3 tablespoons sweet and sour sauce
67. ½ cup frozen yogurt
68. 1 waffle
69. ½ of a White Castle bacon cheeseburger
70. 3 White Castle chicken rings
71. 3 cups of popcorn (popped)
72. 1 cup of buttered popcorn (popped)
73. 1 bite of a Burger King whopper (assuming you take 7 bites to finish it)
74. ¼ of a McDonalds sausage biscuit
75. 1/6 of a McDonalds Big Mac
76. ¼ of a Burger King Croissan’wich, sausage and cheese
77. 1 ounce of cookie dough
78. ½ of a slice of pizza
79. 6 Ritz Crackers
80. 5 Hershey’s Kisses
81. ¼ Wendy’s Frosty (medium)
82. ½ Wendy’s chili (small)
83. ¼ of an Arby’s Breakfast Biscuit with sausage
84. ¼ of an Arby’s Beef and Cheddar sandwich
85. 10 Junior Mints
86. 2 Andes Mint Patties
87. 1 TWIX stick
88. 1/3 of a muffin (medium)
89. 1/3 of a Danish
90. 4 tablespoons of dip (for chips)
91. ½ of frozen ice pop (most brands)
92. 3 caramel candies
93. ½ cup chocolate covered raisins
94. 1 ½ ounces of steak
95. ¼ cup cranberry sauce
96. Pepperoni (enough for 2 slices of pizza)
97. 2 tablespoons of tarter sauce (most brands)
98. ¼ cup Alfredo sauce
99. 1 Kellogg’s Pop-Tart
100.1 hot dog (most brands, no bun)

If you are like most people, you are pressed for time. Whether it's work or school or the kids, you may find yourself saying 'There's not enough time in the day'. This usually leads to a cut back in activities. Unfortunately, exercising is one of the first to go. You can, however, get a great workout, sometimes even better, in a shorter amount of time. Lets look at Interval Training.




Interval Training is a high intense, short period of exercising, followed by a less intense period of the same activity. It is usually repeated several times, depending upon goals. A simple example is run for one minute, walk for one minute, repeat. The ratio of high/low intense activity time is also dependant on your goals and fitness level.




This type of training can burn more calories in the same amount of time than your traditional workout. Let's use the example of a 130lbs woman who is 28 years old. She usually jogs on the treadmill at 4mph for 30 minutes. That burns about 150 calories. Using Interval Training, she walks at 4pmh for one minute and then runs at 8mph for one minute, then repeats the sequence for her normal 30minute training session. In this routine, she will burn an extra 125 calories in the same 30minute session, almost DOUBLING her caloric burn.




Interval Training is not limited to running. Try it in biking, swimming and any of your other favorite activities. The best way to see results is to get out there and do it. Remember, have fun!!



Other Benefits: Interval Training lets you use your aerobic and anaerobic systems in the same workout. Your heart and lungs will become stronger. You will also get a higher tolerance to lactic acid build up (that burning feeling in your muscles), which will lead to more efficient training.





Cautions: Interval Training is intense and can be hard on your body. In most cases, 2 times a week is the recommended maximum.




Variations: To improve your training, adjust your workout. Keep in mind it's best to try just ONE variation at a time. Try changing the Intensity (speed) of your work interval. Vary the Duration, which is the distance or time of your work interval. Adjust the Duration of your rest or recovery interval. Lastly, add or subtract the number of reps you do in each interval.



Beginners: Try Fartlek Training Principle. This is an unstructured type of Interval Training. Instead of timing your intervals, you simply do them according to how your body 'feels'. An example is: Jog at a comfortable pace, run until you 'feel' that's enough, then go back to jogging. Repeat this when you 'feel' your body is ready. Some prefer to use landmarks as a guide. Example: Jog to the tree, run to the stop sign, etc.

by:
Franklin S. Antoian
Personal Trainer
Owner, OnlineBodyManagement.com

When's the Best Time to Exercise?
by Rachel Keller

The way we wake up and begin the morning can make an enormous difference to how we feel and react during the course of the day. So it is worth starting in a positive way.
Robert Thé

When to run is going to come down to when works best for you on a regular basis. Make it easiest for fitting it in with everything else you have to do.
Bill Rodgers


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When is the best time to exercise? Early morning when you first wake up? Later morning after you've started your day? During your lunch break at work? Sometime in the early or late afternoon after a long day at work, or perhaps in the evening a couple hours before retiring? Ask several different people, and you will probably get several different responses as to when you should exercise for optimal results.

Every individual is unique, and as such, each person's body chemistry and inner clock is different. What works best for me, may not work for you. In fact, what works best for you today, may change in a couple years.

You will perform best when your energy level is high. So if you are a morning person, early morning may work best for you. But just because you're a night owl doesn't mean, you shouldn't exercise in the morning. In fact, you may find that exercising early may change you to a morning person.

Over the years, I have experimented with different exercise times and routines. When I was pregnant with my oldest son, I was substitute teaching. During that time of my life, I would take a relaxing walk at the end of my day. After having my second son, I walked/jogged early mornings and on alternate days chose to do some afternoon aerobics while my sons napped.

I've tried other times of the day for exercising, and I always feel great after finishing a routine, but I have found that the best time for me is first thing in the morning. Though not naturally an early bird, I enjoy running under the morning sunrise, and I have found that since implementing my daily morning routine, I have become a morning person. Starting my day with physical activity also gives me the boost I need to make it through a hectic day with three young sons.

Not everyone, however, can bound out of bed first thing in the morning to exercise. Maybe you already get up early to go to work. You must either make the effort to get up a little earlier or find time during a long work break or at the end of the day to squeeze in some physical activity (even if it is only 20 minutes). You may find, though, that the more time that passes, the harder it is to exercise. You're tired and have so much to do and just don't feel like taking some time for fitness.

Some enjoy exercising in the early evening, since exercise helps them relieve the stresses of the day and relax for the night. For others, exercising vigorously at night may keep them awake longer. (I do enjoy a few relaxing stretches before bed, but I avoid aerobic activity in the evening for that reason.)

So when is the best time to exercise? Any time that you can do it. I recommend trying an early morning routine first if you can. lt starts your day on a positive note and other responsibilities won't prevent you from exercising. Researchers have found that those who exercise in the morning are more likely to stick with an exercise routine than those who put it off until later in the day.

If early morning does not work for you and you are disciplined and committed to exercising another time, then by all means, do it then. The best time for you is the time when you will do it and remain committed. It's not always easy getting started, but if you stay with it for some time, you will like what you see, and will be more motivated to continue.


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©Rachel Keller - All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission

About the author: The mother of three young sons, Rachel Keller enjoys running, cycling, aerobics, strength training, and flexibility exercises. She races regularly, placing in her age group in nearly all her races. She has both a bachelor of science and a master's degree in education and has been published numerous times.