The Lifefitness.com Blog

Fit Tip: Shoot Some Hoops

Life Fitness — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:00:00 GMT

It’s finally summer and adults and kids alike are hitting the court for a pick-up game of basketball with friends, neighbors or coworkers. Depending on the intensity of your game, basketball can be a great total body workout with all the benefits of a cardio session at the gym. You don’t have to be a pro to play, but there are a few things you can do to improve your game and get more out of court time.

Strength Training: Shooting the basketball involves chest and shoulder muscles. If you haven’t shot a ball in a few months your muscles will be talking after your first game. Start doing pushups on a regular basis to strengthen your shooting muscles. Begin with 10 and work up to 3 sets of 20 each day. If traditional pushups are too difficult, start on your knees and work up to performing them from a full plank position.

What Rugby Taught Me about Being a Personal Trainer

Phil Calvert — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Last month we talked about how the personal training industry is growing rapidly around the world. It’s a great profession that I am proud to be a part of as an in-home trainer and Life Fitness Academy Master Trainer. But what does it take to be a great personal trainer? Many of the skills that make me successful today, I learned on the rugby pitch.

Some of the most professional personal trainers I have seen operating on the gym floor have been present or ex-rugby players. It’s a sport where you have no place to hide! You are one of fifteen team players with a very specific skill. You might be a speedy winger or you could be a powerful front row player.

Why you ask is this relevant to personal training?

Fit Tip: Become a Better Tennis Player

Life Fitness — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Professional tennis players are some of the best athletes in the world. Tennis involves strength, speed, agility, footwork and endurance to last the match. Getting more court time to practice your strokes is important, but even for recreational players, sports-specific conditioning is the key to improvement.

Strength Training: Strength training increases the power of your shots and minimizes injuries by protecting the joints that are subject to repetitive stress. Try a combination of dumbbells, resistance bands and cable machines. Focus on the whole body – legs, arms, back, shoulders and the core. Try a circuit style workout moving from exercise to exercise. Make sure to incorporate rotational movements and balance exercises.

5 Variations of Traditional Bodyweight Exercises

Life Fitness — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 06:00:00 GMT

It’s good when exercise gets boring—that means you’ve been doing it often enough to get bored! Fortunately, you don’t need the latest equipment to keep the spark in your love of fitness. Many forget that they have two very effective fitness “tools” readily available to them at all times—your bodyweight and gravity—which allows you to exercise anywhere, anytime without any equipment needed. That said, because these moves don’t use the latest fitness gizmo or gadget, some people find that standard bodyweight exercises can get stale pretty quickly. Luckily for you, freshness has arrived—the bodyweight exercise variations below will engage your mind and bring a novel challenge to your body!

Hand-dance Push-up

Orthotics and Footbeds. What’s the difference?

The Gait Guys — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Orthotics and footbeds, they’re the same thing, right? This is a question that is posed to us all the time. No, they’re not the same, but oftentimes one or the other can be appropriate. To explain the difference, we need to understand a little bit about foot mechanics.

The foot is a biomechanical marvel. It is composed of 26 bones and 31 articulations or joints. The bones and joints work together in concert to propel us through the earth’s gravitational field. It is a dynamic structure that is constantly moving and changing with its environment, whether it is in or out of footwear. Problems with the bones or joints of the foot, or the forces that pass through them, can interfere with this symbiosis and create problems which we call diagnoses. They can range from bunions, plantar fasciitis, shin splints, TFL syndrome, abnormal patellar tracking, and lower back pain just to name a few.

Fit Tip: Stretches to Improve Your Golf Game

Life Fitness — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Many golfers start the season with visions of greatness only to become frustrated when their game plateaus or even gets worse. One of the best ways to prepare before each game is to warm up your muscles and your mind. Done consistently, golf stretching exercises can help your range of motion, your strength and ultimately your handicap.

Dynamic golf stretches are the key to a warm up and involve sports specific movements that start with a small range of motion for the first few reps and increase the range as you go. (Static stretches should only be done after your golf game.) Get to the course a little early and do this pre-game warm-up. It should take no more than 10 minutes and allow time for a few practice swings before you tee off.

What does it mean to be the world’s top Personal Trainer to Watch?

Joanne Blackerby — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 06:00:00 GMT

"I’ve learned that people will forget what you’ve said, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel” - Maya Angelou

I have to admit that I honestly thought I was the victim of some sort of prank. The email open on my desktop screen congratulated me on winning the 2012 Personal Trainers to Watch award. Scrolling down to the bottom of the screen, I eyed the Life Fitness signature, hit the reply button and responded with a less than impressive “Are you kidding me?”

I was in a suspended state of shock as I stared at the subsequent replies. It was true. I won the award. I was not, contrary to what you might imagine, jumping up and down and screaming. How could I be the one out of over 1000 worldwide entries? I didn’t know what to do. What does the World’s Top Trainer do?

Fit Tip: Focus on Abs

Life Fitness — Tue, 28 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

Most dream of having sculpted abs, but it’s not an easy goal to reach. The abdominals are used in virtually every movement from running and lifting to bending and jumping. While cardio exercises will whittle away your middle by torching calories and burning fat, you can achieve a flatter and tighter stomach with the right strength exercises. And crunches aren’t the only way. Try these non-crunching exercises to get results:

Plank: This traditional exercise starts in the standard push-up position: face down, hands shoulder-width apart and balancing on your toes with the abs contracted. (To modify, you can start on your forearms instead of your hands and/or drop your knees to the mat.) The most important thing is to keep your body straight from head to heels (or knees if modifying). Maintain the position for 15-30 seconds by engaging the abdominal muscles and holding the position, being mindful not to let you chest or lower back sag. Use a mirror to check your form. As your core muscles improve, you will be able to hold this position longer. Gradually increase your time up to a minute or more. To increase the difficulty, try lifting one leg to create a balance challenge.

Download the New Life Fitness Catalog App

Kate O'Leary — Thu, 23 May 2013 06:00:00 GMT

As an avid iPad user, I’m always looking to download an app for my favorite store, entertainment news, workout programs, magazines, pretty much everything. An app formatted for my iPad makes my experience easier for browsing, saving items and getting my information fast.

With the new Life Fitness catalog app, I can jump to the products I’m interested in, watch videos for a deeper look into each product and quickly get to the spec information for all the details.

Fit Tip: Focus on Legs

Life Fitness — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:00:00 GMT

One of the easiest ways to tone your legs is to get up and use them more with consistent walking, jogging or biking routines. These cardio activities will also burn calories and help reduce overall body fat. But if you are looking for lean, strong legs, the prescription is strength training. Rely on variations of good old-fashioned squats, lunges and deadlifts to firm up the muscles in your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves.

Try the following leg exercises to train your muscles and get your legs ready for summer:

Take the Stairs: Choosing the stairs over the elevator is one of the easiest ways to work your legs during the day and you don’t need any extra equipment, just your body weight. Make it even more effective by taking the stairs two at a time. Push yourself up with your glutes and hamstrings to work the back of your legs.

Life Fitness Recommended App Runtastic Hits Milestone

Anthony Morelli — Wed, 15 May 2013 06:00:00 GMT

We’re excited to hear that one of the Life Fitness compatible apps, Runtastic, is rising rapidly in the fitness app world. The Austrian app developer reached 25 million total downloads this week, which surpassed popular fitness and running apps, including Nike+ and RunKeeper. The company announced it hit 10 million registered users for its website, too.

Along with the milestone, Runtastic also announced it will release its hardware in the U.S. for the first time. The developer will offer Bluetooth heart-rate monitor, sports arm bands and a cycling speed sensor on Amazon.

Quinoa… for Breakfast?

Kate O'Leary — Tue, 14 May 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Ever since I trained for and ran my first half-marathon last February, I have been extremely interested in experimenting with healthy recipes. One ingredient keeps appearing over and over in the recipes I’m finding – quinoa. While it looks similar to rice, quinoa isn’t actually a grain at all; it’s a seed. And this little seed packs lots of protein and fiber, so it’s a great replacement in rice or pasta dishes. You may have seen LFA Master Trainer Deb’s post last week about a quinoa salad. If you haven’t, I would recommend checking that out as well.

But quinoa is not only for savory dishes; it has a sweet side too.

Fit Tip: Focus on Arms

Life Fitness — Tue, 14 May 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Summer is just around the corner, which means sleeveless tops and days at the beach can’t be far away either. Get toned and strong arms with classic free weight and bodyweight exercises. Use these tips to work your triceps, biceps and shoulders to get the definition you desire.

Front Shoulder Raise: You might as well call this exercise the “tank top toner.” Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding weights down in front of your thighs with your palms facing you. Keeping your elbows slightly bent, raise your arms up in front of you until they are parallel to the floor. Don’t shrug. Keep your shoulders relaxed and don’t raise your arms above shoulder level. Lower back to starting position and repeat.

[Infographic] Personal Trainers Wanted

Nick Mennell — Mon, 13 May 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Globally, the personal training profession is growing faster than most careers. As part of the Life Fitness Academy, I’ve had the privilege of meeting trainers across the world, from South Africa to India and the U.S. to China, and personal trainers are striving to explore innovative training technique that will help their clients achieve lasting results. Coupled with the global health epidemic and a heightened awareness for the importance of exercise, personal trainers are in high demand not only in the U.S. but across the world.

Want to learn more? We’ve pulled together some great statistics about the personal training industry in our newest infographic:

Northwest Quinoa Salad Recipe

Deborah McConnell — Thu, 09 May 2013 06:00:00 GMT

I recently had the pleasure of participating and attending Eaton Corporation’s Health Fair in Cleveland, Ohio. One of the local Cleveland vendors, Joe’s, handed out a great Northwest Quinoa Salad recipe that I’ve tested in today’s blog post. It’s a very fresh and light salad with robust flavors and healthy too.

Quinoa is a complete protein, which means it contains all nine essential amino acids. This recipe is served cold and pairs well with flank steak or grilled chicken.

Northwest Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

2 cups of water
1 cup of dry quinoa
.5 lemon
.25 cup fresh chopped basil
.25 cup fresh chopped shallots
.25 cup dried Bing cherries
.25 cup dry, roasted, unsalted cashews
1 tsp. vegetable oil
.25 tsp. salt
.25 black pepper

Fit Tip: Focus on Glutes

Life Fitness — Tue, 07 May 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Most people wouldn’t mind a firm booty, but the more we sit, the softer our seat gets. To get a gravity-defying butt that’s strong and toned, commit to adding exercises that focus on your backside.

Squat it out. Squats are often touted as the best workout for your butt (and thighs), and for good reason. Perform squats using your body weight, a pair of dumbbells or a kettlebell. Stand with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart, bend both knees and act like you are sitting back in a chair, until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Keep your chest up, head lifted and abs engaged. Squeezing your glutes, drive through the heels as you return to standing. Try a few variations like narrow squats, single leg squats or squat jumps.