I won’t go into the benefits and downfalls of running in this article. Instead today I thought I’d list  some alternatives to running that people can do to get in shape.  There’s no excuse for getting bored with your workout!

Alternatives To Running

• Going for a brisk walk
• Swimming at the local club
• Doing a workout video
• Playing basketball
• Rowing machine
• Hiking on local trails
• Spin classes
• Stationary bike
• Roller Blading
• Cross country skiing
• Mountain bike riding
• Elliptical machine
• Treadmill
• Jumping rope
• Circuit training
• Ultimate frisbee
• Step Aerobics
• Handball/Racquetball
• Rock climbing
• Kickboxing

Do you have your own exercises that you enjoy doing (that isn’t running?)? Tell us about it in the comments!

photo credit: kimdokhac

In recent years core training workouts and abdominal training have become synonymous but core conditioning programs need more than just abdominal exercises.

The “core” is the body’s center of gravity and origin of movement and actually consists of many different muscles that stabilize the trunk and hips, allowing efficient movement of the upper and lower extremeties.

Core training programs that fail to address these muscles and focus primarily on abdominal exercises will get limited results at best. Core training exercises need to address the muscles of the trunk and hips to be effective.

Proper core workout training targeted on these muscles help:

• develop better movement coordination and control
• improve balance
• proper load transfer between the upper and lower body
• stabilize the spine and pelvis
• improve joint stability

A strong core is needed to protect the back and hips and other joints of the body during weight bearing activities and to effectively dissipate ground reaction forces.

Core training workouts can help reduce shoulder, back, hip and knee pain and improve athletic performance.

And, core training exercises can be performed using a variety of training tools such as: medicine balls, stability balls, dumbbells, kettlebells, resistance bands and your own body weight.

Movements like the plank, bridge, trunk rotations, squats and multi-directional lunges are very effective core fitness training exercises.

Developing optimum core strength and stability requires core training workouts focus on more than just ab exercises. There are many different exercises to develop core strength and stability.

A qualified trainer or a properly designed core stabilization training program can you help determine which core fitness exercises work best for you.

photo credit: hectorir

When I go running, or workout with weights, I’ve always found that a powerful motivating factor can be the music that I listen to. If I listen to upbeat music that sets a good pace, I’ll often have an extremely good workout. If I don’t listen to music or the music just isn’t as upbeat – the workout isn’t always as good.

Now new research is showing why music helps to motivate us when we workout, and looks at the key elements in music that can get us pumped up for our workout.

For the last 20 years, Costas Karageorghis, a sports psychologist at Britain’s Brunel University, has been setting the research pace for understanding our need to groove and move… According to Kargeorghis, there are four factors that contribute to a song’s motivational qualities: rhythm response, musicality, cultural impact and association. The first two are known as “internal” factors as they relate to the music’s structure while the second two are “external” factors that reflect how we interpret the music.

• Rythm Response: Rhythm response is tied to the beats per minute (bpm) of the song and how well it matches either the cadence or the heartbeat of the runner
• Musicality: A song’s structure such as its melody and harmony contribute to its musicality.
• Cultural Impact: The external factors consider our musical background and the preferences we have for a certain genre of music.
• Association: We associate good things with certain songs and artists, and that music can help to motivate us.

Choosing The Right Music  Can Increase Your Efficiency, Endurance

Another thing the researchers found in their studies was that syncing beats per minute with an exercise pace could increase the efficiency for their subjects:

In a recent study, subjects who cycled in time to music found that they required 7 percent less oxygen to do the same work when compared to music playing in the background. Music can also help block out the little voice in your brain telling you its time to quit. Research shows that this dissociation effect results in a 10 percent reduction in perceived effort during treadmill running at a moderate intensity.

Not only did they find that their efficiency could increase, but they found that the right music choice could increase endurance and lessen the impact of fatigue.

“The synchronous application of music resulted in much higher endurance while the motivational qualities of the music impacted significantly on the interpretation of fatigue symptoms right up to the point of voluntary exhaustion,” Karageorghis reported.

What Is The Conclusion?

So what is the conclusion that we can reach from these studies?  To me it means that I should be making my workouts better by being careful about the music choices I make.  If I choose the right music that has an upbeat tempo (high BPM), has a good association for me, and that can be in sync with my workout, I can expect to have more effective and even longer workouts because of the motivational effect of the music.

So, how do you go about finding the right music for the workout?  There are a variety of softwares out there that will analyze your music library and categorize songs into different playlists according to beats per minute – and some even will create playlists so that you have a warmup, exercise and warm-down.  One example of that is the Tangerine plugin for Itunes.   Use one of those softwares to create your optimal playlist for your workout!

Have you found that music helps you to have a better workout?  Do you have playlists for certain types of exercise, or for certain goals?

The initial results from a new study have suggested that caffeine may have the effects of lessening the pain from intense exercise.  From MSNBC.com

That cup of coffee that many gym rats, bikers and runners swill before a workout does more than energize them. It kills some of the pain of athletic exertion, a new study suggests. And it works regardless of whether a person already had a coffee habit or not.

The study looked at how caffeine helps to block  a certain biochemical that is important in pain processing.

Caffeine works on a system in the brain and spinal cord (the adenosine neuromodulatory system) that is heavily involved in pain processing, says University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Robert Motl. And since caffeine blocks adenosine, the biochemical that plays an important role in energy transfer and thus exercise, he speculated that it could reduce pain.

What they found was that the caffeine did in fact help with reducing the pain of exercise, both in people who regularly drank coffee or caffeine filled drinks, and in those who didn’t.   Details of the study:

An hour prior to each session, cyclists — who had been instructed not to consume caffeine during the prior 24-hour period — were given a pill. On one occasion, it contained a dose of caffeine measuring 5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (equivalent to two to three cups of coffee); the other time, they received a placebo.
During both exercise periods, subjects’ perceptions of quadriceps muscle pain was recorded at regular intervals, along with data on oxygen consumption, heart rate and work rate.
“What we saw is something we didn’t expect,” Motl said. “Caffeine-naïve individuals and habitual users have the same amount of reduction in pain during exercise after caffeine (consumption).”

So what is the conclusion  that they’ve reached, and what is the practical application?

We’ve shown that caffeine reduces pain reliably, consistently during cycling, across different intensities, across different people, different characteristics.    One of the things that may be a practical application, is if you go to the gym and you exercise and it hurts, you may be prone to stop doing that because pain is an aversive stimulus that tells you to withdraw,” Motl said. “So if we could give people a little caffeine and reduce the amount of pain they’re experiencing, maybe that would help them stick with that exercise.

So drink up!  Starbucks here we come!

Have you ever found that when you’re living an active lifestyle, your mood and temperment tend to be better than when you’re more sedentary?  I know I tend to be in a better mood when I’m working out.

Now a new study has found that men who aren’t active are more likely to “feel hopeless”.

More active men seem to have a rosier outlook on life, new research from Finland shows.

Dr. Maarit Valtonen of Kuopio University Hospital and colleagues found that men who spent less than one hour a week doing moderate to vigorous leisure-time physical activity were 37 percent more likely to report feeling hopeless than men who logged at least 2.5 hours weekly.

The men who got at least 2.5 hours of moderate activity each week were significantly less likely to be hopeless than men who were active for an hour or less weekly, and this association remained even after the researchers adjusted for age, socioeconomic status, smoking, and other relevant factors. Vigorous physical activity had a particularly strong effect.

When the researchers adjusted for depression, the link between hopelessness and activity remained. But while low levels of fitness were also tied to greater likelihood of feeling hopeless, further analysis found depression was the responsible factor.

Many people, including those who aren’t depressed or otherwise mentally ill, feel hopeless, the researchers note. The current findings, they say, suggest that “hopelessness and depression are overlapping, but distinct entities.”

The findings also suggest that being active can help “ameliorate or protect against feelings of hopelessness” even if a person’s fitness levels don’t improve.

So once again, being physically active is shown to be good for your health – both physically and psychologically.

As for me? I’m still waiting for that study that says eating hamburgers and pizza – and being a couch potato are good for your health. I’m still waiting.

In talking with my wife, we often have conversations about losing weight, getting fit, and finding the “right plan” to help us to lose weight. My wife will talk about how if she just finds the right fitness plan, things will be different. I sometimes feel the same way, thinking if I find just the right workout and nutrition plan I’ll be able to turn the corner.

Over the years I’ve lost a considerable amount of weight (40+ lbs) more than once, and on different plans, but never spending a lot of money.   The problem is that I haven’t been able to completely turn things around, and change the way I live. I haven’t had the motivation or the willingness to change my habits in order to keep the weight off.   Now, I’m wondering if maybe to find that right plan I may need to spend a bit more money to get that added boost and motivation?

A study published this year in the New England Journal of Medicine talks about how weight loss doesn’t have to be expensive.  The caveat?  You have to be motivated and willing to change.  The greater your motivation, the less you’ll probably have to spend. The study compared 4 popular diets:

They found they all produced similar results. After two years, the dieters in each group lost an average of nine pounds. Notably, the dieters who attended more counseling sessions lost a little bit more, which may support the notion that behavior is more important than diet alone.

Motivation, though, is not always easy to come by — especially when it involves changing habits. Some people may need a little help to kick-start a weight-loss regimen, whether that means following a popular diet or enrolling in an organized program. Your goal, though, should not be short term.

“Keeping weight off permanently is a lifelong process,” says James O. Hill, a psychologist and a founder of the National Weight Control Registry , a database of 6,000 people who have lost weight and kept it off.

How ready are you? The more committed you are, the less you will need to spend.

Motivation And How Much You Spend To Lose Weight

The article goes on to talk about the different levels that people are at with their motivation, and how much they ‘ll need to spend:

• Highly Motivated and Willing To Change Do It Yourself-ers  – Spend The Least:   You can lose weight for no cost if you are very motivated, and are ready to change your lifestyle.  Free resources for losing weight abound on the web, and usually your doctor can give you some helpful pointers on good healthy nutrition.  You can also get helpful weight loss books from the library, or use a community gym for free.
• Somewhat Motivated And Willing – Spend A Little:   A lot of people take this route  where they spend some money to get fit, usually buying fitness books, or simple exercise aids.  Not exceedingly expensive, and a good option if you’re motivated and willing, but don’t want to spend a lot.
• Not Motivated And Somewhat Willing – Spend a Lot:  More people need that extra push, support and motivation that is provided in a more structured setting.   For those people there are groups like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and other similar weight loss support groups.  Also bunched in here might be groups at your local fitness club that guide you in proper nutrition and exercise.   Most of these groups will having fees to join, weekly or monthly charges, and extra charges for things like food or supplements.  You can really spend a good deal of money to do this.
• Not Motivated and Somewhat Willing But Needing Extra  Support – Spend A Ton: Many people have tried a lot of different ways to lose weight, but have found that they just can’t do it without added help.  Many of them have some real big health problems that need to be addressed.  For those people often a monitored hospital based plan is the ticket.  These plans will often include visits with a doctor as well as follow up visits -all which cost money.  You can end up spending a lot of money over the months that you lose weight, but for some it is the only option.

In the past I’ve always just kind of done my own workout plans, calling upon free workout resources online to help me in the process.

I think the time may have come for me to move it up to another level and actually invest in some books and other resources that may cost a little bit of money.  I think I may need that extra boost!

How are you with your workouts? Are you highly motivated and able to do it on your own? Do you benefit from added help you can get from an organized program?  Do you need more structure?  Tell us what you think in the comments.

Hip and knee pain are often the result of weakness in the abdominal and glute muscles.

Your abdominals (a.k.a “core”) work to keep your upper body stable while your arms and legs move and your glutes extend your hip by bringing your leg back like when you walk or run.

But, when your abs and glute muscles are weak other muscles must compensate. This happens when your quadriceps (thigh muscles) and your hip flexors try to perform the work your abs and glutes are supposed to be doing. This is also why you can have knee pain when squatting.

The result is often one or more of the following:

-lower back pain
-hip pain
-knee pain
-foot and ankle pain

I use many different types of core strengthening exercises to eliminate hip and knee pain quickly.

Using exercises to strengthen your core muscles help to strengthen weaker muscles to reduce painful symptoms.

In the video to the right I’ll show you a simple, yet really effective core strength exercise to strengthen your abdominal muscles immediately and reduce hip and knee pain.

Try it out and leave me a comment here and tell me how it worked for you.

One thing that I remember hearing from multiple sources when beginning to research options for weight loss plans, was that when you begin working out, you’ll give your metabolism a jump start, and your body will essentially take over and become a fat burning machine. Many believed that your body would burn calories more effectively for up to 24 hours after working out.

A new report published in the journal Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews suggests that our bodies may not work that way, and that you need to rethink your dietary intake so as not to undue your exercising.

The notion that exercise somehow boosts the body’s ability to burn fat for as long as 24 hours after a workout has led to a misperception among the general public that diet doesn’t matter so much as long as one exercises, says Edward Melanson, an exercise physiologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver.

People think they have a license to eat whatever they want, and our research shows that is definitely not the case,” he says. “You can easily undo what you set out to do.” In the new report, published in the journal Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, Melanson and colleagues discuss research to date on the issue of burning fat during and after exercise. The authors conclude that while people do burn more fat when they are exercising than when they are not, they have no greater ability to burn fat over the next 24 hours than on days when they are couch potatoes.

“If you exercise and replace the calories you burn, you’re no better — with regard to how much fat you burn off — than if you didn’t exercise,” says Melanson.

So what does that mean for all of us out here working out, trying to lose weight?  Maybe  that we need to be more careful about our diet and exercise regimen, and not count on our exercising to allow us to eat whatever we want.

“Bottom line is that we once thought that exercise would burn calories, especially fat calories, for a long period after a bout of exercise,” says exercise physiologist Gerald Endress, fitness director for the Duke University Diet and Fitness Center who was not involved in the research. “This does not seem to be the case.”

But both Melanson and Endress say it can’t be ruled out that longer, harder and possibly different types of exercise performed regularly on consecutive days could lead to a more lasting post-workout fat burn. In Melanson’s research, for instance, participants all cycled for under an hour, burning up to 400 calories.

All this isn’t to say, however, that you should not exercise to help lose weight and keep it off. “It’s not that exercise doesn’t help with weight loss,” says Melanson. “It’s that it’s harder to lose weight with exercise than diet.” That’s not surprising when you consider that it might take an hour to burn 400 calories but just five minutes to consume them.

So there you go.  Don’t count on your exercise plan alone to help you lose weight. Make sure you have a good plan of exercise and diet that will help you to lose weight.

What do you think about this study?  Does it challenge your beliefs about exercise and metabolism, and  how our bodies work?  Will you be changing anything because of this?

Proper golf shoulder exercises can usually correct poor golf swing mechanics. I have identified 4 common reasons that contribute to golf shoulder pain:

1. Poor posture:  Having forward rounded shoulders and a slouched upper back limits shoulder motion and proper shoulder turn during your golf swing. As a result, shoulder turn during your golf swing is decreased and increased stress occurs to your rotator cuff.

2. Limited trunk rotation:  Proper rotation must happen at your hips and trunk to allow proper shoulder turn and a balanced golf swing. When trunk rotation is limited it prevents proper hip and shoulder turn which can force the rotator cuff muscles in the shoulders to overcompensate resulting in pain.

Large deficits in trunk rotation results in lateral body movement which displaces your center of gravity and throws your golf swing way off balance.

Lateral deviation of your body during the backswing or downswing often results in:

• loss of balance
• reduced power
• poor accuracy
• over-slicing the ball
• topping off the ball

3. Poor shoulder flexibility:  This is frequently caused by tightness in the pectoralis major/minor muscles of the chest. When these muscles are tight they limit the amount of external rotation at the shoulder which results in poor golf swing mechanics and increased stress to the shoulder.

4. Weakness in the upper and mid-back muscles: The muscles that make up your upper and mid-back are very important for healthy shoulders and a proper golf swing.

I won’t get to scientific here but basically each rotator cuff is comprised of 4 muscles that attach to your shoulder. The rotator cuff’s primary function is to stabilize your shoulder during movement. But, your shoulder isn’t the only
attachment site of your rotator cuff. Your rotator cuff muscles originate from your shoulder blades.

And, your shoulder blades are controlled primarily by the muscles in your upper and mid-back. When properly conditioned, your upper and mid-back muscles help to allow proper shoulder motion and swing mechanics. When these muscles become weak and deconditioned the deltoid muscles in your shoulder and even your neck muscles can start to overcompensate which leads to shoulder and/or neck pain.

In the video to the right I show 3 key golf shoulder exercises I’ve used for my golfing clients with great success:

• Wall Rows
• Diagonal Shoulder Patterns
• Trunk Rotations
• My 3-way doorway stretch

These can help correct golf swing mechanics and prevent golf swing shoulder pain.

Post a comment below and let me know what you thought of this post and the video.

This is a guest post from Kevin Yates, founder of Yates Performance Training, and new blogger over at Post Rehab Exercise.  Check out his new site, read the article below, and then watch the video to the right. Thanks Kevin!

Just because your knees hurt squatting doesn’t mean that squats are a bad exercise. In fact, squats and lunges have gotten such a bad reputation for causing knee, hip and lower back problems when this is absolutely not true.

In this post I will share 3 alternatives to eliminate knee pain squatting but before I get there you need to know why squats hurt your knees.

In nearly a decade of working with clients who have had issues such as back pain, lower back fusion surgery, knee pain, meniscus surgery, acl reconstruction, knee replacements, hip replacement surgery and other nagging injuries I have yet to see any indication where squats were directly responsible for knee pain or back injuries.

The truth is that knee pain during squats is almost always the result of doing the exercises incorrectly. Squats will not hurt your knees if you do them correctly. But, most people do not perform them correctly even if they think they do.

Mistakes That Make Your Knees Hurt

Below are the most common mistakes I have identified in individuals whose knees hurt squatting. Just one of these mistakes is enough to feel knee pain during squats:

1. Weight on the toes: This happens a lot when using too much weight which tends to pull your body too far forward. Other times it’s simply a lack of awareness of how to distribute one’s body weight.
2. Knees moving forward while squatting: This is another common example of using too much weight. It can also be the result of the quadriceps (thigh muscles) overcompensating for weak glutes.
3. Thigh and lower back muscles doing most of the work: This happens when the glutes and hamstrings are weak. When you lack proper hip strength muscle imbalances often result in the quadriceps and lower back over working. This is one of the main reasons for knee pain during squatting.
4. Glutes and hamstrings are weak: These muscles need to be properly strengthened in order to eliminate knee and lower back pain.
5. Trunk collapsing too far forward: This is a sure-fire sign of weak core muscles and/or quadricep and lower back overcompensation. Typically, weakness in the abdominal and hip muscles are the problem.

Now that you know why your knees hurt squatting we can focus on 3 simple guidelines and alternatives you can use to get rid of painful knees and use squats to strengthen your core and hip muscles.

In the video below I share some unique tips to use so you’ll eliminate knee pain during squats. And at 3:38 I reveal a powerful tip to strengthen your hips almost nobody knows about.

3 Squat Alternatives

1. Static squat: teaches the basic technique of squatting. To do this stay back on your heels and slowly descend into a half squat position and hold. The goal is to focus on using your glutes and hamstrings and not just your quadriceps (thighs). Once you master this it’s time to move on to some progressions listed below.
2. Dumbbell deadlifts: an easier option rather than using a barbell because barbell deadlifts pull you forward which can make it harder to stay back on your heels. The difference when using dumbbells is that the dumbbells stay at your sides and don’t have as much forward pull which makes it easier to maintain proper technique
3. Dumbbell front squats:  these help you maintain a more upright trunk because the weight of the dumbbells has a slight forward pull to it which makes you counter balance by remaining upright. You’ll automatically pull yourself to a more upright position to even out the load.

So, what do you think of this post? Anything you disagree with?  Any tips of your own that you think should be included?  Let us know in the comments below.