week 2 five point challenge

xqueenbee24x · January 2014

Week 2- 5 point challenge: knowledge is power

Your challenge for this week is to find a health or fitness related article and report back to this thread regarding the article. In order to earn points for this challenge you must site the source of your article, summarize your article, and describe how it relates to our goals in this group and on mfp.

Remember to post your reply by Sunday at 11:59 PM EST in order to earn credit for the challenge. No partial points will be provided so please make sure all three components of the challenge are covered in your reply. More importantly no points will be provided for duplicate articles so please be aware of what articles have been posted prior to your completion of the challenge.

Good luck

MLL0319 · January 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-greenfield/best-cardio-machines_b_1035202.html
Author: Been Greenfield

The article that I read today is "Which Cardio Machine at the Gym is the Best? I attend the gym but I also wonder if I am using the right machine and using them correctly. In this article, the author cites five machines that he feels are the best at the gym. Even better, he cites how to use the machines properly to burn the most calories. I think this will be helpful to all people participating in the challenge.

1. The bike

500-1000 calories per hour
Make sure you choose a resistance that makes you breath hard at 90 RPM (revolutions per minute)
***Interesting! I never knew that I should be at such a high RPM and that I should put a strong resistance on the bike.

2.The treadmill
600-1200 calories per hour
Make sure that you are running on an incline to boost your metabolism hours after a run. Walking can only burn 150-400 calories per hour.
***I usually do not run on an incline.

3. The elliptical
700-900 calories per hour if you use the hand movements. Have a stride rate of 120-140.
***Interesting. I usually do not use the hand movements.

4. The stairmaster
"Although the stairmaster is popular, it doesn't get great results. It incorporates small, low-calorie burning calf muscles, and just a small part of your upper thighs and butt -- and only burns at most 400-500 calories per hour. In addition, if you have low back pain, then you may find that the pain is aggravated during the up and down motion of the Stairmaster."

5. Rowing machine
1000 calories per hour

"To make things more interesting on the rowing machine, try to intersperse short periods of very hard pulling with easy pulling. For instance: row for 250 meters as hard as possible, then row 100 meters easy, and repeat 6-8 times. When rowing, use both your torso and legs -- not just your arms."

It is suggested that you always switch up your cardio to get an overall workout. I found this article interesting and will implement some of the suggestions at the gym tomorrow.

claram5415 · January 2014

http://therumpus.net/2012/09/the-rumpus-interview-with-dr-neal-barnard/

Author: Suzanne Koven

This is an interview with Dr. Neal Barnard, founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Suzanne Koven is also a doctor and the interview focuses on his work to get more Americans to eat vegan or at least cut back on meat, due to the effect meat has on our health. I respect his work and have read one of his books so I was interested in his viewpoint. They cover things like how he became vegan, whether humans are natural carnivores, and the effect of the Western diet on countries such as Japan, India and China.
I learned a lot and was enouraged to keep with my journey to eat more veggies and fruit. Since I think all of us want to do this, I thought group members might be interested in this article.

Nikki_G30 · January 2014

http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/exercise-doesnt-appear-to-increase-calorie-consumption

Runner's World
Amby Burfoot

The article discusses a recent review that looked at 99 studies that followed 5 different design protocols about calories and exercise. The conclusion was generally people do not increase calories consumption just because they worked out. The studies also showed that this results came from doing several different types of exercises too.

I thought this would be interesting to share with the group since I often wonder this myself. I swear though on days I run I feel way more hungry. It's nice to know that the two are not (hunger levels and exercise intensity) are not necessarily correlated but either way you still have to be mindful of your overall intake vs output.

GrandmaJackie · January 2014

http://www.simplefitnesssolutions.com/articles/fitting_fitness.htm

Fitting Fitness into Your Busy Schedule
by Deborah L. Mullen, CSCS

Its the benefits of exercise and the risks of inactivity, yet still find it difficult to incorporate physical activity into your lifestyle? Most people have good intentions, but don't seem to find the time, or inclination to exercise.

few tips for:

Your Automobile
Your Office
At Home
Think Physical Activity, Not Exercise
Walking
Strength Training, the Most Time-Efficient Way to Better Fitness
Family Recreation--Quality Time and Better Health in One Activity
How to Stick With Your Physical Activity Plan
Planning Ahead

Hope you guys enjoy reading! Good luck with your journey!
Jackie

brdgt · January 2014

I've enjoyed reading these summaries - thank you everyone!

My Cardio Instructor mentioned that she is going to start incorporated Tabata into our class, so I looked up an article about it:

Is Tabata All It's Cracked Up to Be?
By Talisa Emberts, M.S., John P. Porcari, Ph.D., Jeffery Steffen, Ph.D., Scott Doberstein, M.S., and Carl Foster, Ph.D.
The American Council on Exercise
(https://www.acefitness.org/prosourcearticle/3497/is-tabata-all-it-s-cracked-up-to-be)

Tabata is a super high intensity cardio interval workout that was started by Dr. Irisawa Koichi when he was training speed skaters for the Olympics. It sounds simple - 20 seconds of intense cardio, 10 seconds of rest, repeat - but it is also described as "painful and tiring."

A team of doctors studied the method to determine how effective it was it was in improving cardiovascular fitness and in burning calories. They concluded that the workout did do both of these and very effectively, especially in a relatively short period of time.

They cautioned, however, that you should already be in good shape to attempt this workout and even those in good shape should limit the exercise to 2-3 workouts a week, with 48-72 hours rest between.

The study provides a sample 20-minute Tabata workout protocol (including jump rope, push-ups, lunges, squats, burpees, and planks) and their data (heart rate, calories burned per minute, etc). I also noticed that if you google "tabata" there are lot of other sample workouts online and several apps for timing the workouts (like this one: http://www.tabatatimer.com/)

Diegosmother · January 2014

I'm determined to be a better runner this year, I've recently been doing couch to 5K and signed up for a 5K in february, a 5K in april and an 8K in March.
The article I chose is:
http://www.shape.com/fitness/cardio/7-ways-become-better-runner-without-running/#012214

I am fascinated by the posture suggestion, since I sit in a desk all day long and realize that the way I sit also affects my works outs!
I'm hoping I can incorporate some of the stretches and ideas in my daily routine:

xqueenbee24x · January 2014

The article that I read was 5 Healthy Tips to Help You Plan Healthy Meals.

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/5-easy-tips-to-help-you-plan-healthy-meals.html

Although the article was simple in the suggestions it provided and they were pretty much "common sense" I still found it to be a great article because it continues to reinforce either what we already do, or what we really should be doing in order to help maintain a healthy diet.

The five tips are as follows:
1) look at the week ahead
2) find recipe inspiration
3) map it out
4) make your grocery list
5) prep all at once

Again, while we have all heard of these tips before and or put them into practice I found the article to be very helpful in breaking it down and helping in making sure that these tips and tricks can be used effectively for healthy eating.

Reeder06 · January 2014

So my biggest problem is my mid section, and wanted to find an article about this to help push me in order to get rid of my "spare tire".

http://www.uhc.com/source4women/health_wellness_tools_resources/nutrition/real_truth_about_belly_fat.htm

This article hit home! I learned a few new facts that despite what one may think, your midsection is one of the first places you start to lose weight! I also learned that doing numerous sit ups wont help lose the belly fat, its just about losing weight! I always thought that as long as you eat less calories and just do crunches you would lose your belly, who knew! It also explains how carrying more of a midsection increases your risk of cardiovascular problems and diabetes. It also told me how to accurately measure your midsection. You should be laying down! I have never measured it that way! In conclusion the article stated basically what we already know, a calorie controlled diet including all of the main food groups while working out an hour a day will help diminish your mid section!

LadySuze · January 2014

I read "30 minutes of daily exercise enough to shed pounds"

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20120824/30-minutes-daily-exercise-shed-pounds

The article talks about a study where there were 2 groups of people. The first group exercised for an hour each day, and the other group exercised for 30 minutes a day.

After a couple of months the weight loss results were compared, and they concluded that 30 minutes of exercise works as well as an hour.

An explanation could be that people who only did 30 minutes of exercise had more energy for other activities throughout the day and that the group who did 60 minutes of exercise tended to eat more calories.

It just shows that you don't have to be at the gym 24/7! Even 30 minutes a day is good enough

chocobis09 · January 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brant-secunda-and-mark-allen/motivation_b_4652944.html?utm_hp_ref=healthy-living

When Self-Improvement Gets Boring, Try These 6 Motivational Strategies

-Check in with your priorities.
-Learn from the discomfort.
-Laugh and play more.
-Go easy on your expectations.
-Self-reflect every day.
-Be grateful

I have a problem staying motivated so this article was interesting. I especial liked "learn from the discomfort", and how making major life changes will have a period of discomfort that should be embraced. Things should not be the same if your doing it right and that will take some getting used to for you as well as the people in your life. Self reflection is probably something i'm going to work on doing regularly.

The 2014 Personal Accountable Challenge

week 2 five point challenge

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