Cardio - three key exercises for weight loss!

Cardio - raise that heartbeat for a sustained period to help in your weight loss and fitness goals, but what is best for you? Here is some further advice around swimming, cycling and running/jogging that you may find helpful, enjoyable ultimately and not overly strenuous, but will definitely aid you in reaching your objectives. Sourced from 'ezinearticles' (http://EzineArticles.com/7046683) and written by Suzie Ling (http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suzie_Ling).

Cardio is a great ally in the difficult task of weight loss. If somebody wants to lose weight, he or she probably has a weight which is above the recommended healthy level. And being overweight is not healthy at all. Being overweight can cause many problems and one of those problems is heart related problems.

Similarly, being under the recommended healthy weight is not good for you. If you stay in any of these dangerous weight zones for too long, many problems may occur. This is because we have to maintain our weight between the normal values as well as practising physical exercises to keep our bodies functioning and healthy.

Excessive body weight can cause heart problems. Like a car needs its engine, we need our heart. With this in mind, we therefore need to protect our heart and avoid unhealthy habits that may affect our health. Additionally, physical exercise will maintain our health as well as our heart.

We can even find some of the best cardio for weight loss in order to reduce our weight in a healthy way on the Internet and by practising cardio exercises we will be helping our heart and our body.

There are some of the best cardio exercises for losing weight:

Swimming:  is a very good cardio exercise in order to lose weight and to keep you healthy. Swimming allows you to exercise your entire body and it is an excellent way to lose weight. Swimming is among the best cardio for weight loss. Additionally, this type of physical exercise doesn't cause any injury relating bones or joints, because you will be exercising in the water with reduced resistance.

Running: you don't need any kind of special equipment for this exercise, however you will need a good pair of trainers in order to prevent any kind of damage to your bones or joints. Also, you will need comfortable clothes so you can move without any problem. Running will help you losing weight by burning calories, though of course you can't run only five or ten minutes - you will have to run around half an hour each time. A good tip is to listen to music or run with someone else as this will help you keep motivated to run further even if you are tired.

Cycling: by cycling at least thirty minutes a day you will improve your endurance and lose weight. Cycling is a very simple activity and an effective exercise to lose weight. Additionally, you can practise this exercise by going to work or school by bicycle. You just have to be creative and find the best way to incorporate your best cardio for weight loss exercises in your day to day activities.

These are only three of the best cardio for weight loss exercises that you can undertake in order to be healthier, to lose weight and to improve your physical skills such as endurance and strength.

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-

Pre Work-Out Supplements that deliver.

We have now arrived in that twilight zone between Christmas and New Year when you may be suffering from the over indulgences of the festive season, still on holiday and there is a lull before it all ramps up again with more eating, drinking, celebrating and excess on New Years Eve and New Years Day. Taking the opportunity I thought, in readiness for your efforts to kick start 2015, I have a couple of articles coming up on supplements to aid your fitness and weight loss goals. The one below I sourced through 'articalesbase' (http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/buy-pre-workout-supplements-that-deliver-7163318.html) and is written by Bryen Hooper, and provides a good introduction on what to look for in your supplements, is you decide to enhance your efforts in this way.


Since the research on effectiveness of pre-workout supplements became public, a multitude of such supplements have flooded the market. Very few of these are effective, but all of them claim to be the best product on the market. Choosing a supplement that delivers results can be quite difficult in such a scenario. In order to buy effective pre-workout supplements, you need to know all about the ingredients that are proven to deliver results. Some ingredients used in supplements benefit fitness enthusiasts, sports persons and bodybuilders immensely. The best part is that these help you unlock your great athletic potential without causing any side effects.

Let's first take a look at the positive impacts that a pre-workout supplement should deliver :

Muscle Pumps
Starting from your early 30's and even late 20's, you start to experience a lack of energy in your muscles. The cause is reduced blood supply due to natural ageing effects. Increasing blood supply to the muscles is important to enhance muscle size, vascularity and fullness.

Enhanced Strength
Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) or muscle energy production must be optimised for improving athletic performance. Intensity and raw power in sport has a lot to do with the concept of muscle energy production, and some ingredients gear your body's biochemistry to optimise it. With enhanced strength, endurance and energy, you are able to achieve a lot more than otherwise possible.

Enhanced Metabolism
You want to consume a balanced diet full of nutrients, but what if your digestive system is unable to absorb and process it? Your metabolism plays a key role in absorbing proteins and other nutrients and building muscles. Enhancing it by taking a supplement rich in key ingredients is important.

Muscle Recovery
The most important reason for taking pre-workout supplements is to help in muscle recovery, which is the key to increasing muscle mass. For enhancing muscle mass, you need to ensure that muscle loss is lower than protein synthesis. The supplement you choose should contain effective ingredients, which promotes fast muscle recovery.

Ingredients to look for in a supplement
You buy a pre-workout supplement which enhances muscle pumps, improves muscle recovery, increases metabolism and builds strength at the same time. Of course, these should be proven to have safe ingredients that do not lead to any side effects. For muscle pumps, the supplement should contain three forms of Arginine, Citrulline Malate and CarnoSyn Beta Alanine.

Creatine is a known muscle cell energy enhancer but it is associated with many side effects. However, some leading supplement manufacturers offer an effective blend of Creatine, which eliminates such risks. R-Beta-Methylphenylethylamine is a safe metabolism enhancer that promotes fat loss and can be used as an energy enhancer too.

Finally, branch chain amino acids (BCAAs) are the most important ingredient to look for in a pre-workout supplement. It provides the additional proteins needed to make amends for the proteins lost after a strenuous workout session, and build muscle mass. Look for a supplement that contains these ingredients.

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-

Picking a Personal Trainer . . . it's a process!

Riding hot on the heels of my last article on this next step in the process - choosing the right one for you. Again, ezinearticles.com is a trove of knowledge and insight and I grabbed this one because it provides some simple steps to think about when you embark on a PT journey. There are questions you will need to ask and similarly there is information that your prospective PT will need to ask of you - it's a two way street and you are forging a relationship where trust, motivation, friendship, respect and money will need to flow either way - so it's important you make the right choice. Phillip J. Schiefer (http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Phillip_J_Schiefer) provides some words of wisdom below that you'll do well to heed as you kick-start your programme


It's been about fifteen years since I first set foot in a gym and I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. Had I known the things I do now, I could have avoided injuries, bad advice and progressed more efficiently. Regardless of the gym I go to, it seems as if we all sneak a peek at what the personal trainers are doing at some point. I know I do it and I notice it being done to me when I'm training a client. We're in a field where our profession is typically displayed in our backs. If that's not an attention grabber, then our actions are. If you work with a trainer or are looking to work with a trainer, you want to make sure your trainer is working to help address your specific requirements.

When you meet with a trainer, they should ask questions about your background, medical issues and injury history, before any exercising takes place. The exercises given should be to assess your form and posture to see what issues need to be corrected. The program they use for you should be specific to your goals and limitations. If your goal is weight loss and your trainer has you on machine after machine, then you don't have the right match. If you feel sore to the point where walking, standing up and sitting down are painful, you were probably over trained or exercised with poor form and weren't corrected. Your muscles shouldn't ache and you shouldn't feel deteriorated after a session. If you don't feel sore at all and you are new to exercising, then your routine wasn't intense enough for you. Either that or you left with a big smile on your face because you spent the entire session chatting and laughing it up.

There are stages to progression that are implemented to prevent injury and help you to achieve faster results. With a good trainer, your form should get better, your posture should improve, you should get stronger, more flexible and feel better. Both you and your trainer should notice your progress. Feel free to ask questions and make suggestions about your routine. If you didn't feel like you matched well with they trainer they assigned to you, ask for another one. You may want to continue training, just not with your trainer. It's your body and your money, their feelings are not your concern. Shop around and observe the other trainers, approach the one you think will work best with you. If that trainer is in the middle of a session, approach the front desk and get their info.

Conversely, don't get in the mindset that you have to find someone better.

Progress comes slow. If you've made some progress and have a plan, moving forward, stick with that trainer. Lock them up long-term. Chances are that there is someone else waiting for your time slot to vacate. The purpose of the trainer should be to guide you to exercising independence. For me, the biggest reward is seeing someone I trained come in and use all the things I taught them, on their own. At that point, their training with me is focused on pushing them to the next level.

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-