Are you struggling to lose weight? You are not on your own, millions of people around the world search in vain for the "magic bullet" that will help them in their battle to lose some pounds. You have probably heard it said that losing weight is easy – "just eat less and exercise regularly". If only it was that easy? In essence, however, that statement is a good summation of what you need to do in order to lose weight.

The importance of regular exercise in achieving and maintaining your ideal weight cannot be stressed enough. Aside from the weight loss benefits, the overall improvements in one’s health and well being from the simple expedient of a regular exercise routine can be enormous. But what kind of exercise is the most effective for weight loss? Most experts agree that cardio-vascular exercise when carried out on a regular and consistent basis is key to an effective weight loss program.

As consumers we are bombarded with advertisements proclaiming the merits of the latest fitness equipment that can be used in order to shed some unwanted fat, but one particular item of fitness equipment continues to dominate the market as the ultimate device for achieving a cardio-vascular workout and thus assisting you with your weight loss goals. This device is the treadmill.

Treadmills have maintained their popularity in the fitness equipment market despite competition from many new and novel types of exercise equipment. Many of these new devices are popular for a short period during which time they are frequently given exposure in magazines and infomercials . But there popularity soon wanes and they become yesterday’s fitness fad. This is not the case with the exercise treadmill which has retained it’s popularity with both the average family member who wants to lose weight and keep in shape and the professional athlete.

One of the reasons why fitness treadmills have retained their popularity is that they allow users to enjoy one of the most natural forms of exercise (walking and running) and let them carry out this exercise in a controlled environment. Walking exercises the whole body and doesn’t require any complicated training. It is "hard wired" into the brain and is one of the first things that we humans learn to do.

As a form of exercise though, walking and running can have some drawbacks. These are nearly all environmental and are taken care of by the controlled environment that the treadmill provides. These drawbacks include weather conditions which can be either too hot, too cold, rain, wind or snow. If you live in the city it may not be practical to run through crowded streets and there is always the issue of your own personal safety with the possibility of an attack from a stranger or stray dog.

Compared to other types of fitness equipment, treadmills are easy to use and don’t require you to move your body in an unnatural way, or restrict the natural movements of your limbs. They can also help to mitigate a lot of injuries that can be sustained by running on asphalt by virtue of their cushioned running surface.

Fitness treadmills have the advantage of being suitable for virtually any age group from children (with supervision) to the elderly and are often used in medical centers as a rehabilitation tool to help people in their recovery from injury. They are also suitable for any type of fitness level from beginner to professional athlete.

The cardio-vascular exercise that you engage in when using a treadmill is an excellent way to lose weight and studies have shown that you can burn more calories on the treadmill than any other type of fitness equipment including stair machines, rowing machines, stationary cycles or ski machines. For the many people who are using a treadmill in order to lose weight, however, the secret to success is consistency.

As with all exercise you need to establish a routine so that your treadmill exercise sessions become part of your everyday life. It is important to make your workout session a part of your daily routine until it becomes something that you do automatically without having to give it much thought.

Most people who own a treadmill have it set up in a room in their house or apartment where it is as easy to use for their daily workout as going into the bathroom to take a shower. The very nature of the treadmill with the quite, measured rolling of the walking surface, the comfortable room temperature and the safety provided by your home all contribute to the pleasant feelings you will associate with using a home treadmill.

A further benefit the treadmill offers is the ability to vary different parameters of the workout in order make the workout more novel and interesting. Most modern motorized treadmills offer the ability to vary the speed of the belt and incline of the running surface during the workout. These changes can be done manually during the workout, or be pre-programmed as part of a suite of programs built into the machine. Some treadmills also offer the user the function to design their own programs which can then be re run whenever the user wishes.

Many users look forward to their time on the treadmill, for in addition to the health benefits, they also welcome the special time they have to themselves, when they can ponder and reflect about events in their lives. But for people who are not so introspective many modern treadmills are fitted with music systems and even flat screen TV’s in order to keep the user entertained.

When using your treadmill it is a good idea to add some variety by introducing some interval training sessions into your workout. This should comprise of brief periods of intense exercise mixed in with your regular treadmill workouts. You may for example arrange to do a one minute interval of fast walking every for every five minutes of regular walking and repeat this throughout your session.

By varying between a steady, comfortable pace and brief periods of sustained effort you will be able to increase your aerobic fitness level gradually over time. What you are actually doing is pushing your anaerobic threshold, thus forcing your body to accept a greater intensity of exercise. This will in turn help you to achieve the weight loss targets that you have set for your self.

The treadmill continues to be the ideal choice for anyone looking for fitness equipment in order to shed some pounds.

Jump on, Power up, Lose weight!

Paul Reeve is a Personal Trainer, Presenter and Lecturer for Fitness Professionals, Sports Organizations, Sport Coaches, Corporate Organizations. Get FREE advice and research treadmills by visiting www.treadmilladviser.com

Similar Posts:

• Pros and Cons of Buying your Own Treadmill
• Urban Cardio Training – are you up to the challenge?
• Abdominal Workout? Helps you lose weight
• How to Shop for Home Fitness Equipment
• Schwinn Equipment Types

Everyone from a seasoned athlete to a beginner just getting into exercise can benefit from using resistance bands in their workout. You may have seen the bands at your local gym or saw them being sold at a sports and fitness shop, but you may have not known just how beneficial these bands could be to your workout. Here are the several advantages to using resistance bands during a workout.

Resistance bands are very convenient and inexpensive. Compare trying to pack a set of dumbbells in your luggage to simply one or two resistance bands with handles. Also, compare the price of a set of free weights to a resistance band kit. The band kit cost at least a fourth less of what a set of free weights would cost. If you are going on vacation or a business trip, resistance bands are a great way to continue your everyday exercise. Or, if you have a small living space and you are unable to store a lot of fitness equipment, these bands will only take a few inches of space and can easily be put in a drawer or cabinet.

The key to working out with resistance bands, is to pick one or two of them that fit your strength levels for your exercises. Most bands will come with a designation that shows the approximate weight that you would be using for the resistance band. You can find resistance band kits that are geared toward women, with weights between 10-30 pounds and ones that are more geared towards men and seasoned athletes with weights between 25-50 pounds. This is not the exact weight, as you can make easily change the resistance level of a band by shortening or lengthening the band.

Lastly, a resistance band works to help you burn fat and calories at a faster pace. Adding resistance to your workouts can help your body to get leaner and more toned in a shorter amount of time. With this type of equipment, your muscles are able to get the full range of motion, unlike when you lift free weights. Also, resistance bands can easily be adapted into cardiovascular workouts to add an extra challenge to your workout. Free weights are big and bulky and can be cumbersome when trying to do a cardiovascular workout with them. They also allow you to control the tension on them by shortening or lengthening the band. This means that if you wanted to use a band for a biceps curl and then go straight into a squat, you can use the same band, but just increase or decrease your tension on the band.

Resistance bands are a convenient and easy way to burn fat and get the body that you desire. They offer several advantages over free weights and can be used by just about anybody looking for a great workout.

Tiffany Brunskole is a writer for Surfer Body Fitness, an Online retailer who specializes in workout products and supplies from Beachbody fitness. Check out their resistance band kits for your workouts.

Similar Posts:

• How to Shop for Home Fitness Equipment
• Weight lifting isn’t just for meatheads
• Kinds and Uses of Rowing Machines
• Get The Right Elliptical Trainer And Save Money
• Muscle Building Improves Father And Son Relationship

One piece of fitness equipment that is guaranteed to work is the stability ball, also called a physio ball or the Swiss Ball. This is a large inflatable heavy-duty ball, capable of holding up to 700 pounds of weight. The balls are available in a variety of diameters to suit preference and body height. By conforming to the shape of the body, the exercise ball is comfortable and gives maximum support.

The stability ball has come into increased popularity with the recent growth of pilates. The ball is an integral part of pilates exercises. In fact, it is often referred to as a pilates ball. The stability ball has now found it’s way into use with more conventional exercises and weight training. The balls can be found on most gym floors in health clubs throughout the country.

The ball has a unique ability to simultaneously provide support and improve balance. This can help performance with sports that require body balance, such as skiing and martial arts. Using the ball during training will "fire" different body parts to maintain the proper balance. The dynamic movements during exercise will improve natural motor reflexes, as different muscles are utilized in movement, especially the ones that are not usually used. The challenge posed by the ball to maintain balance will improve muscle group alignment.

The most common use of the stability ball is for ab training. It’s the best way to do crunches. It provides the best support to the lower back, alleviating and preventing back pain. Crunching with your lower back balanced on a stability ball allows you to extend your upper body below horizontal, increasing range of motion. This works the deep ab muscles and increases core strength.

Other exercises that are well suited for the stability ball are:

Back Extensions – This is great for strengthening your lower back. With you feet on the ground, balance the ball on your abs, bring your upper body down as low as possible and extend up as high as possible. You can hold a weight to your chest for more resistance.

Dumbbell Presses/Flys – This is a great chest workout. Balance your upper back on the ball and do your dumbbell presses or flys. The ball will provide excellent support and increases range of motion.

Yoga and stretching – It’s great to do these exercises with various sized stability balls.

Overhead Shoulder Press – Sit on the ball and do dumbbell shoulder presses. This will fire balancing muscles throughout your body.

Seated Alternating Dumbbell Curls – As you alternate each arm, you will be challenged to stay balanced and focused.

Also, stability ball are relatively small, light, and reasonably priced, so it’s a great addition to your home gym.

Rick Mancini is the founder of OxLabs.com, a Sports Nutrition company for active and athletic men. The OxLabs website is a valuable educational resource with articles, information, and discussion related to men’s health, fitness, anti-aging and successful life strategies. To access our free eBook titled, "Top 21 Anti-Aging Success Tips Fitness & Nutrition tips that will add years to your life!" Click here for the eBook!

Similar Posts:

• How to Shop for Home Fitness Equipment
• Fitness equipment for weight loss
• Are You Ready For Functional Flexibility?
• Your Guide to Strength Training at Home
• Exercise can help back pain

It was February of 2001 and there I was, about to turn 41, when it hit me: "I’m not 20 any more!"

OK, self-realization has never been my strong suit. Not only was I out of place on the basketball court, I was out of place climbing 2 flights of stairs. There were lots of friends telling me, "you’re not as young as you used to be, you have to give up on that stuff."

Give up? I grew up watching a nation decide to land on the moon, and then they did it. This was a country that had less computer power at all of NASA than most people have today in their cell phones, and yet they decided to go to the moon, and then did it.

So I figured that surely by 2001, 30 years after the moon landing, people had figured out how to make fitness easy. Well, 6 months, 5 magazine subscriptions, 2 gym memberships, 3 personal trainers and a basement full of fitness equipment later… I realized that fitness is a different kind of problem than landing on the moon. It’s a problem that people lie about.

I’m not even talking about the intentional lies that some marketers make about products they know won’t work. I’m talking about the lies people tell themselves, that government agencies tell us all.

People treat fitness like it is solved, like all you have to do is work out 3 times a week and you are set.

Well sure, someone who works out 3 times a week is better off than someone who doesn’t work out at all. By "better off," what they mean is that they don’t deteriorate as fast.

But I wanted more than that. I wanted an actual solution, like when you put toast in the toaster and it gets toasted, reliably.

I looked and saw people going through the motions. Maybe they were looking better than they would have looked and feeling better than they would have felt. But, they weren’t feeling good, weren’t getting strong, and weren’t becoming athletes.

I didn’t see 40-year-olds playing full court basketball, or taking up extreme sports, and at first I thought that was just because they weren’t trying hard enough. But then I started trying, started following the plans: doing the workout programs, taking the vitamins, and following the diet formulas.

They didn’t work. And that’s when I learned the big lie.

The big lie is that fitness is easy if you’ll just get up and move. It’s not true. Fitness isn’t easy, not at 40. Your body is complicated. It’s not as simple as standing in line and waiting your turn on the elliptical.

Here’s what my 40 years of life experience had taught me:

• If you Want to build a straw hut, trial and error will get the job done.
• If you Want to build a skyscraper, you need to understand the problem and put the right pieces in place.

OK, I was 40. Maybe I should have wanted to just be able to get around better and to fit into clothes well. But I wanted to play full court basketball, to learn to play ice hockey and how to downhill ski, and to actually accomplish things that most 40-year-olds gave up on. I wanted fitness to be as solved as using a microwave oven.

Well, it can be. But there’s a lot I had to learn to determine that. Here are some of the things I figured out.

1. The foundation, just like in the skyscraper example, has to be there before you start worrying about what paint to put on the exterior. For fitness this is muscle.

Aerobics worked fine for me when I was 20-years-old because at 20 I naturally had a high percentage of lean muscle mass. But, at 40, I had to focus on it and had to build that foundation first before focusing on aerobics. The reason is that aerobics, while great for your heart and your waistline, slows down muscle growth and even stops or reverses it at extremes.

So the first trick is to begin by causing your muscles to grow. And overshoot your muscle goals before layering on the aerobics. Understanding this can save you lots of frustration, and get you back to the "I want it all" mindset that we all deserve from our fitness efforts.

2. All workouts are not created equal. Different methods of working out accomplish different things. Just like you wouldn’t take art classes to learn business, you don’t run to build muscle, and you don’t lift heavy to burn fat. Knowing, and planning for, the different types of effects of different types of exercises can save you tons of wasted time.

3. Your body isn’t on internet time. I’ve tried for a long time to find a different way to put this, but I still haven’t come up with a clearer analogy: from conception of a baby to birth takes nine months. This is true regardless of how many couples there are or how enthusiastically they try. In each case it simply takes nine months.

Your body’s transformation takes time as well. Knowing what is realistic will put you on the consistent improvement track. Trying to do things that aren’t realistic will not achieve faster results, but worse ones.

You can have it all. I’m about to turn 49 now and last year I learned to ski. In fact, I not only learned, but I was swooshing down the black diamond slopes along with the 20-year-olds. I haven’t slam-dunked a basketball yet, but it’s just a matter of time.

Tony Reno, long known for successful R&D, spent the past decade using the same practical science skills to produce reliable fitness solutions. You too can trade "over the hill" for "over the slope and down the hill, fast." If you enjoyed this article and would like to learn more about steady fitness progress for whatever goal, even big, unrealistic ones, go now to get your FREE 20-page Preview of the popular "Peak Exercise" eBook.

Similar Posts:

• Muscle Building Improves Father And Son Relationship
• How Cross-Training Benefits Your Weight Loss Program
• Confessions of a Personal Fitness Trainer
• What is the secret to getting ripped?
• How to Shop for Home Fitness Equipment