Fitness Breakout

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Category Archives: Cardio

Bike Trainer Reviews for Cycling Enthusiasts

Cycling is a great cardio workout that almost anyone can do. Bike trainers allow you to cycle indoors without having to worry about weather and other outdoor elements. Today’s article is a guest post by Ron Fritzke who runs http://cycling-review.com. Having had plenty of experience with cycling and writing bike trainer reviews, Ron has been generous enough to share some excellent information on various types of bike trainers and which one might be best suited to your needs.

Cycling is a great cardio workout.

I’d much rather ride my bike outside, where it was intended to be ridden. But there are some times when I’m grateful to have a good bike trainer so that I can stay out of the rain, the traffic, or sometimes even the summer heat. Continue reading →

Aerobics are the Best Memory Improvement Exercises

“Regular physical exercise is probably the best means we have of preventing Alzheimer’s disease today… Better than medications, better than intellectual activity, better than supplements and diet.” – Dr. Ronald Petersen (Mayo Clinic)

Alzheimer’s disease is a growing problem.

Unlike other major diseases where death rates have been reduced over the past several years, Alzheimer’s disease death rates have increased almost 50%. In fact, Alzheimer’s is ranked 7th in leading causes of death among all individuals in the US and 5th in the leading causes of death among seniors age 65 and older.1 The financial statistics are even more staggering. Global costs of dementia were over $600 billion in 2010. This is equivalent to 1% of the world’s GDP. Further, these costs are projected to increase by at least 85% within the next 20 years.2 Considering all of the above, it’s no surprise that people are searching for the best memory improvement exercises.

Alzheimer's disease is a growing worldwide problem.

What if there was a simple prevention mechanism for Alzheimer’s that anyone can practice? Continue reading →

Long Distance Running Tips for Beginners

“Struggle is the food from which change is made, and the best time to make the most of a struggle is when it’s right in front of your face.” –Danny Dreyer

I’m not a big fan of long distance running.

But that’s probably because I’m not very good at it. I’m currently training for the Gate River Run, a 15K race that my family and I participate in each year. This is really the only time I actually enjoy running. Because it’s the official 15K national championship race, it is a fun event and draws a great crowd. As I mentioned, distance running has never been one of my strengths, but I’m going to try to change that this year. Currently, during my long distance runs my pace is a little over 10 minutes per mile. I feel like someone who is as active and physically fit as I am should be able to keep up an 8 minute per mile pace or better. So even though I’ve been running for quite some time, I started searching for the best long distance running tips for beginners.

Check out Danny Dreyer's ChiRunning book.

Enter ChiRunning. Continue reading →

Cardio Exercises at Home: An Intense 15 Minute Workout

“Body weight circuits are kickin’ my butt!” –Rusty Moore

Do you ever have days when you only have 15 minutes to work out?

I know I do.  When this happens, most people will usually elect to skip their workout because they don’t think they have enough time to do anything worthwhile.  I used to be guilty of this myself.  Now, I know better.  About a year ago, I came across Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training Crazy 8 workout on Fitness Black Book.  The first time I tried it, I was completely gassed after only two circuits.  This is when I knew that this workout was the real deal.  You can even do these unique bodyweight cardio exercises at home.

I wonder how many Spiderman pushups Spiderman can do...

What is the Crazy 8? Continue reading →

The Best Cardio Workout is Custom Built

Cardio is one of the most misunderstood concepts in fitness.

What is the best cardio workout to perform for fat loss? Are some types of cardio better than others? Do you even need to do cardio at all? There is no straight answer to any of these questions. It all depends on your situation and what your fat loss goals are. For an active individual who is already in great shape, but wants to drop his body fat from 10% to 6%, I would recommend a different cardio routine than I would for a 400 pound man who hasn’t exercised in 20 years. Ultimately, you will need to build the best cardio workout for you. But first, you need to understand the different types of cardio. In this post, I will focus on three types of cardio.

There are plenty of different ways to do cardio.

Low-Intensity Steady State (LISS) Continue reading →

Astonishing Record Time in The Biggest Loser Marathon

“Unless you puke, faint or die, keep going.” – Jillian Michaels

So, I thought I’d write a post about The Biggest Loser, which has quickly become one of my favorite shows on television.  Season 9 ended this past week with winner Mike Ventrella dropping an amazing 264 pounds, more than 50% of his starting weight.  As impressive as this was, I was even more impressed with something else that happened on the show: The Biggest Loser Marathon.

Here is a pic of the contestants from Season 9 at the beginning of the show... quite a hefty bunch.

What was so impressive? Continue reading →

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