1. LONGER WORKOUTS AT A LOWER INTENSITY BURN MORE FAT.
Short and intense interval training sessions can improve whole body fat oxidation by 36% and may offer greater benefits than lengthy bouts of steady-state exercise. Interval training allows you to get more work done in the same amount of time because you can work at greater intensity levels than if you were doing steady state training. Your overall production (calories burned) will be greater despite the frequent breaks because you are able to work at a higher intensity.
Interval training also improves your level of fitness very quickly, typically in a matter of just a few weeks, and this improvement in fitness allows you to perform more work and burn more calories during an exercise session.

2. I SHOULD WORKOUT ON AN EMPTY STOMACH SO MY BODY WILL BURN FAT.
You must put glucose (food) in the system before you exercise. If you are exercising with no glucose in the system, it sends your body into Emergency Mode. Emergency Mode = hold on to body fat for as long as possible because it is valuable energy and will be necessary to survive. Instead of fat, your body will break down muscle tissue and use that as energy. It does this for two major reasons:

1) Muscle is metabolically active tissue. For this reason it’s viewed as costly when there is not enough energy coming in. Your body is “doing you a favor” by getting rid of really needy, high maintenance cells. Emergency Mode is all about energy conservation: Get rid of muscle, hold on to fat.

2) Losing muscle mass slows down your metabolism, which conserves energy. This is your body’s goal when you are in Emergency Mode.

If you are working out – or even physically active – and there is no glucose in the system, your primary fuel source is muscle, not fat. Get your body out of Emergency Mode by making sure to keep adequate glucose in the system by eating several small meals and snacks throughout the day.

3. IF I DON’T HAVE AT LEAST 30 MINUTES TO EXERCISE I SHOULD JUST SKIP IT BECAUSE I WON’T GET ANY BENEFIT.
Science has shown that you do not have to do long, continuous workouts to get benefit. Studies have taken two groups of exercisers and divided them in to ’30 minutes of continuous exercise done in one session’ and ’30 minutes done in 3 bouts of 10 minutes each, spread throughout the day’. Guess which group got more benefit? The second group that spread out their three 10 minutes sessions reaped more benefit, and here’s why: Every time you exercise, your metabolism increases. When you finish exercising, it takes a while for your metabolism to slow back down. This means free extra calories being burned! I like to think of this as the “Afterburner Effect”. The group that did 30 consecutive minutes got only one “afterburner effect”, whereas the second group got three!

Another benefit to splitting up your workouts is that it may be more do-able from a time management perspective. Finding a big block of time can be very challenging, but finding 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes mid-day and 10 minutes in the evening definitely has possibilities. Instead of bagging a workout because you don’t have 45 minutes or an hour, see how much you can accumulate throughout the day or week.

4. IF I STOP EXERCISING, ALL MY MUSCLE WILL TURN TO FAT.
Muscle cannot turn into fat. Molecularly the two are as different as oil and water. As you begin to exercise your muscle fibers hypertrophy (grow), causing your metabolism to increase. This increase in energy expenditure creates an energy deficit, and so your body uses stored energy from the fat cells causing them to shrink in size. When you stop exercising the muscle fibers atrophy (shrink), causing your metabolism to slow. This decrease in physical activity and energy expenditure coupled with eating the way you did when you were working out creates an energy surplus, which is stored in the fat cells and they grow larger. It is just a matter of taking up space, not turning into something else.

5. WORKING MY ABS ALL THE TIME WILL GET ME A SIX-PACK STOMACH.
Physical activity – including resistance training – will help reduce body fat, but not specifically or exclusively in the isolated muscle group being worked. Current theory shows that a reduction in calorie intake coupled with exercise results in fat reduction throughout the entire body, not in localized spots. You cannot “spot reduce” fat on specific areas of the body. Body fat decreases in an all over body sense – your body genetically decides where the fat goes to or comes from first and unfortunately you can’t control it. Reducing body fat is best accomplished through a combination of cardiovascular activity, resistance training, and a healthy diet.

6. I’M TOO OLD TO HAVE A FIRM STOMACH OR TONED LEGS.
Although studies indicate you may lose muscle mass as you become older, you can slow or even reverse the process through exercise. There is no reason why you cannot improve the strength, flexibility, and overall appearance of your body no matter how old you are. The old adage “Use it or lose it” applies here. Most people lose muscle mass because they stop exercising, not because they are old. They become sedentary. Depending on your present level of fitness, you can add muscle mass to some degree or another. You’re never too old to receive the health benefits of exercise and to look great!

Meet Jenny Evans, Stress/Exercise Physiologist & Founder of PowerHouse Performance Coaching

Jenny Evans is founder of PowerHouse Performance Coaching and the creator of PowerHouse Hit the Deck™, an innovate product that combats the Cortisol Crisis™, boosts your threshold for stress, improves your overall levels of energy and productivity, increases the quality of your sleep, and elevates your level of fitness. A sought after international speaker, her insightful and practical principles leave her audiences ready to take action! As an Executive Performance Coach & Human Catalyst, Jenny trains thousands of national and international corporate executives on the roles that stress, performance psychology, nutrition and exercise physiology play in managing their productivity both personally and professionally. She specializes in guiding and inspiring both large and small groups in the process of personal and professional transformation through keynotes and half day training sessions. She is also contributing author of the book The Corporate Athlete Advantage: The Science of Deepening Engagement. For the past fifteen years Jenny has been involved in educating and training the public on overall health and performance through radio, television, group, and personal instruction. In her spare time she competes in duathlons, does flying trapeze and is an aerial arts performer and coach.

For more information please visit www.powerhouseperformancecoaching.com

Stylish, fun, fashionable fitness… that’s what founders of fitnessUwear, Annie Ulichney and Kimberly Koelle, have achieved! (…and as a side note, my Mom’s physical therapist had suggested she use these to help her when writing to help ‘weight’ her wrist and keep her hand from shaking so much when writing…)

Offering “Fashionable Fitness You Can Wear Like Jewelry,” Kim and Annie are both busy moms who appreciate any type of product that makes their lives easier. Through that concept they invented Banglz, which are fashion ankle and wrist weights light enough to wear all day, yet substantial enough to feel the difference!

The Center for Disease Control & Prevention notes that even when at rest, one pound of muscle burns up to 30-50 more calories a day, compared to one pound of fat, which only burns 2-5 calories a day. “Everyone begins to lose muscle around age 25 if they are not proactive about their health. When you begin adding muscle back into the equation, you almost effortlessly lose fat and burn more calories!”

Banglz Wrist Weights
½ lb. weight bands that come in a variety of fashionable prints, allowing you to wear them like jewelry or be ahead of the crowd at the gym. They maximize upper body muscle tone and develop new, lean muscle during your regular day. By providing ongoing resistance, they help to strengthen arms, shoulders, chest and core. Price: $24.95

Banglz Ankle Weights
1 lb. weight bands available in fashionable prints that can be worn like anklets all day long. With each step, slight resistance helps to tone the legs, hips and glutes. They maximize low-impact exercise time and allow for exercise to be added into everyday activities to increase the number of calories burnt. Price: $27.95

Both Banglz Wrist Weights and Banglz Ankle Weights are safe to wear everyday. Annie suggests that women who have an already existing fitness routine can add them to optimize their workouts. For those who consider themselves inactive, Annie recommends a gradual addition of Banglz for everyday toning and muscle development. According to Annie, “physical inactivity has been noted as one of the greatest health concerns our country faces today. By adding Banglz, an inactive person can begin to live a healthy, fit lifestyle without the added burden of scheduling

For more information, visit www.banglz.com.

Given the stress of life these days, if one can get healthier, and happier and stronger in all areas of oneself at the same time, it seems like a very good idea.

Since so many of our other investments have turned to dust, perhaps now is the time to invest in our own self-development — body, mind, spirit. Any effort in this direction will help give us the clarity, energy, and health we need to adapt to change, to respond to new opportunities, and to have courage in the face of challenges.

Here are 6 tips to stay motivated in your fitness goals while reducing stress and achieving balance during stressful times:

Not All Yoga is Created Equal: To get the maximum benefit from your yoga practice, look for a yoga style that calls itself “spiritual” or “inward awakening” or “meditative.” This is especially good if you are a beginner at yoga, or out of shape physically, because you can get benefit from this kind of yoga practice even if you can only bend in the general direction of the postures! The yoga postures are not arbitrary positions but are an expression of inner states of consciousness. Any effort to move in the general direction of a yoga posture, also moves mind and spirit in that same direction of useful attributes like happiness, calmness, contentment, or courage. Ananda Yoga is a gentle approach, suitable for all ages and physical conditions — including young, strong, and supple — with an emphasis on inner attunement, and building even physical strength from that inner core. If you can find a yoga style that includes some meditation, that will have the most overall benefit.

Pay Attention to the Long Rhythm: When asked once how to measure spiritual progress, the Dalai Lama said “Never think in terms of anything less than a decade. Who were you 10 years ago? Who are you now?” True change comes slowly. A human being is not a fixed reality, but a flow of energy. By the time you can measure something about yourself, it is, by definition, already behind you. The truest measure of who you are is where you are going. Your aspirations define your future. Your aspirations are who you are.

Keep the faith. It isn’t a question of what actions you commit, it is about what actions you are committed to. Even if you don’t — fill in the blank: meditate, eat healthy, act kindly, stay cheerful — every day, until it is something you do regularly. Even if that regularly is only once a week, or once a month, it is still who you are, and who you will become more and more.

Be of good cheer: Positive magnetism brings positive results. No matter how often you fall down, don’t ever think of yourself as a failure. Say rather, “I haven’t yet succeeded.”

Be honest with yourself: Don’t hide from the truth, rather include the whole truth. Perhaps, right now, you are not living up to your full potential. But all the power of the Infinite dwells within you. You are pure energy, pure joy. Success is guaranteed. It is only a matter of when. In the meantime, enjoy the ride. Sometimes in order to reach the base of the mountain for the final upward climb, you have to cross many hills and valleys. Keep your heart focused on the goal. You are pure Cosmic Energy and sooner or later you will figure out how to use that energy for your everlasting happiness and success.

Think directionally: In any situation, there is the best and the worst that you could do. If you can’t do the best (even the law of averages says no one can their best every time), then at least try not to do your worst. If it is a matter of exercise, even if you can’t walk the five miles you planned, go once around the block. If it is a matter of diet, and you know you might eat the whole box of chocolates, quickly pour five of them down the garbage disposal and turn it on. Then even if you finish all the rest, at least you didn’t eat those five! If it is a spiritual matter, and your one-hour of meditation has been frittered away to five minutes, then seize those five minutes and pray with all your heart for God’s grace to descend.

You’ll be amazed, if you just don’t do your worst, how much positive change will come! It doesn’t matter how fast you are moving toward your goal. It doesn’t even matter if you are treading water or not moving at all. The only thing that matters is that you don’t give up, and keep facing the right direction so when you finally do start moving you’ll be heading where you want to go.

Asha Praver is a lecturer, teacher, counselor, Spiritual Co-Director (with husband, David) of the Ananda Palo Alto Community, and author of Swami Kriyananda as We Have Known Him. Asha has been trained in yoga, meditation, and spiritual living by Swami Kriyananda, who was a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda. Since 1969 Asha has been a disciple, a meditator, and an intentional community member. To learn more about the Ananda communities and teachings, visit the Ananda Palo Alto website at www.anandapaloalto.org. To learn more about Asha’s book, please visit www.aswehaveknownhim.org.