Fitness
Fitness only seems simple. In truth, it's anything but ... The ripped go-getter, the weekend athlete, the generally active, the not-quite-idle and the bona fide couch potato all have very specific needs. And those needs (the latest gear, targeted exercises, training regimens, etc.) can vary by activity of choice, age and sometimes injury. Don't be daunted. Check out this gallery of the latest fitness news and advice. You're likely to find something here for you. And, if not, check back. The news is always changing -- just like the advice you get from trainers, friends and the occasional well-meaning if misguided co-worker.
May 22, 2011
A two-for-one workout
Most people wouldn't think of combining seemingly polar opposite pursuits such as Pilates and boxing. But the odd pairing makes perfect sense to one fitness instructor.
7:06 PM EDT, May 16, 2011
BOOSTER SHOTS: Oddities, musings and news from the health world
Study on multi-day ultra-marathon injury rates offers up surprises
Ultra-marathoners may be subjecting their bodies to one of the world's most daunting tests of endurance, but the races may not be as rough on the body as they sound, according to new research published this month in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
9:21 PM EDT, May 11, 2011
Live Health Chat
Live chat: Ultra-runner Marshall Ulrich pushes to the extreme
See what it's like to push your body to extremes in a live Web chat with ultra-runner Marshall Ulrich on Monday, May 16, at 11 a.m. PT (1 p.m. CT, 2 p.m. ET).
May 16, 2011
Karen Voight: Good Form: Pilates ring adds intensity to workout
Props like this Pilates ring can help spice up your workout by challenging muscles in new ways. To add intensity to your obliques (side abdominal muscles) and adductors (inner thigh muscles), try this new move.
May 9, 2011
Live Health Chat
Web chat: Fitness tips from Olympic ice skater Kristi Yamaguchi
Get fitness tips from an Olympian in a chat replay with ice skater Kristi Yamaguchi.
3:57 PM EDT, May 4, 2011
Type 1 diabetes didn't stop these athletes
If you're an athlete with Type 1 diabetes, knowing how to play your body can keep you competing at the highest professional levels.
April 27, 2011
Rest and recovery: Why athletes need it
Sage Rountree’s new book, “The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery,” is the kind of book I wish I had when I was seriously competing in triathlons. I probably wouldn’t have followed any of the advice because I saw little value in rest and didn't really know how to do it. But it might have saved me from injuries and overtraining as well as improved my speed.
April 25, 2011
By Roy M. Wallack, Special to the Los Angeles Times: Gear: Getting taken for a ride
Serious cyclists become obsessed with flashy new miracle-material frames and high-tech componentry, but there's also plenty of innovation among the less-glamorous parts of the bike. Here's proof that essential-but-mundane products like inner tubes, pedals, water bottles and indoor training stands can have a "wow" factor too.
April 25, 2011
Good Form
Karen Voight: A challenging exercise for the abdominals
Our abdominals are the body's center of power. They're responsible for initiating many of the movements we make and for stabilizing the spine when we do. Here's a challenging exercise to keep them strong and healthy.
April 18, 2011
In-Your-Face Fitness
Kettlebells work for Daniel Baldwin, but are they right for you?
For the past few weeks, I've been sporting big yellow bruises on my forearms. I blame actor Daniel Baldwin and his enthusiasm for kettlebells.
April 14, 2011
Why walking is not exercise
In his new book “Beat the Gym,” fitness expert Tom Holland asserts that “walking is not exercise.” Whoa!!!
April 11, 2011
Roy Wallack: Obese exercise: How four found exercise that worked
I'd never seen anyone this big move this fast.
April 11, 2011
By Roy M. Wallack, Special to the Los Angeles Times: Obesity and exercise: Pam Newman's working hard to stand and deliver
When the music starts up in the Zumba dance class at Big Bear's Mountain Fitness Center gym, everyone is on their feet — except for Pam Newman. She's the 300-plus-pound woman in the back of the room who's lost 100 pounds in the last year by violating the "standing to exercise" rule. That's because she enthusiastically kicks her legs and flails her arms … while sitting down on a bench.
April 11, 2011
By Roy M. Wallack, Special to the Los Angeles Times: Obesity and exercise: Debbie Bumgardner drops the yo-yo diet, picks up a Trikke
Debbie Bumgardner was an overworked 52-year-old legal secretary and frustrated yo-yo dieter from Tarzana who'd gradually cut back on tennis and biking over the years. By early 2010, she was 100 pounds overweight.
April 11, 2011
Obesity and exercise: How 390-pound Charles Cicciarella began to walk the walk
Charles Cicciarella, a 36-year-old e-learning specialist from Toronto, had been fat for as long as he could remember. He was a target of bullies during his school years and then ballooned in his early 20s when he began a lucrative career that enabled an immobile lifestyle.
April 11, 2011
Roy Wallack: Obesity and exercise: Larry Brooks takes strides toward health
Larry Brooks had been a football player through high school and college and was athletic well into adulthood — in fact, he was a power lifter into his mid-40s. But by the time he hit his mid-50s, a busy decade of all work, no exercise and drinking as many as 35 cups of coffee each day took its toll. In December 2009, after a bout of pneumonia, the geologist from Keller, Texas, found himself with a 54-inch waist, 40.3% body fat, total cholesterol of 325 and a $300 monthly bill for Lipitor, three beta blockers and other drugs. He weighed 341 pounds.
3:06 PM EDT, March 30, 2011
Exercise strategies for people with autism
For the typical adult, getting to the gym requires manipulation. You know it's good for you, that you'll feel better after you do it, and that you might actually lose weight and look great if you continue your daily sweat sessions.
3:18 PM EDT, March 23, 2011
Your new gym playlist
We knew our graduate degree in musicology would come in handy eventually. (Yes, we really have one.)
4:04 PM EDT, March 16, 2011
Sometimes getting fit takes an online village
Personal trainers are a resilient bunch. When the economy tanked they drifted from costly one-on-one sessions to more cost-effective small group training.
March 16, 2011
Meals and exercise fit for a firefighter
At the Glenside Fire Protection District, firefighters know that being in shape will help them deal with emergencies of all kind.
3:41 PM EST, March 9, 2011
New-school fitness, old-school fun
When most people think of working out, they envision the monotonous treadmill or the bare-bones weights. But fitness doesn't have to be old and boring. Remember when you went for bike rides, jumped on a trampoline or wiggled a hula hoop around your waist just because it was fun?
6:43 PM EST, March 7, 2011
BOOSTER SHOTS: Oddities, musings and news from the health world
Fitness games, or 'exergames,' may be a great way to burn calories, two studies find -- as long as they're fun
"Exergames," interactive digital or video-based games such as Wii Fit and Dance Dance Revolution, are part of today's fitness landscape for children and young adults. But do they really offer a substantial calorie burn? Two studies find that some of the games do, but whether they're fun enough for people to stick with them is another thing.
March 6, 2011
Coconut water: A health drink that's all it's cracked up to be?
It was evidently good enough for Gilligan and Robinson Crusoe. But is coconut water a healthy choice for people who aren't stranded on a deserted island?
5:00 PM EST, March 2, 2011
How to exercise more as a family
Family walks, bike rides and backyard games are great, but there are many ways to make fitness appealing to kids. "You are only limited by your own imagination," says Rogenia David, owner of My Gym Children's Fitness Center of Hampton Roads in Newport News, Va. "Once kids get going, it's hard to stop them." A few ideas:
February 28, 2011
In-Your-Face Fitness: Another look at high-intensity interval training
Turn your body into a high-powered fat-burning machine!
February 21, 2011
Karen Voight: Good Form: A more challenging plank pose
Add an extra challenge to your elbow plank exercises by balancing on one leg at a time. It helps to strengthen your core, spine, legs and the deep muscles in your upper back.
February 21, 2011
By Roy M. Wallack, Special to the Los Angeles Times: Gear: A step up in home ellipticals
The elliptical trainer and its smooth oval foot pattern was a hit the moment it arrived on the scene in the mid-1990s, but a good one that could stand up to regular home use without rattling apart has never come cheap. That's doubly true of some of the expensive new sub-categories that have arisen recently, such as the seated elliptical, which gives older exercisers a safer all-body workout, and the suspended elliptical, which has a free-form, variable movement that is a favorite of high-performance exercisers. Fortunately, the market has finally responded with newer, high-quality and affordable alternatives, such as the models below.
February 18, 2011
Doctors warn about children overtraining in mixed martial arts
With more children punching and kicking each other in the name of mixed martial arts, the results are inevitable: More kids are getting hurt, doctors say.
2:25 PM EST, February 14, 2011
In-Your-Face Fitness
Weightlifting can be helpful for obese kids
It goes without saying that children who are obese would benefit from aerobic exercise. However, they're likely to find the idea of going for a jog or spending half an hour on a treadmill about as appealing as watching Congress debate the fine points of tax policy on C-SPAN.
February 14, 2011
The irony of painkillers
People usually have good reasons for swallowing over-the-counter painkillers: They're hurting.
February 13, 2011
Strength training does more than bulk up muscles
Strength training has strong-armed its way beyond the realm of bodybuilding.
February 13, 2011
Resistance training that you can try at home
How much strength training is enough to build muscles and garner some health benefits? Kent Adams, director of the exercise physiology lab at Cal State Monterey Bay, says most healthy people can follow the basic guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine, which recommends doing eight to 12 repetitions of eight to 10 strength-training exercises twice a week. (That's in addition to doing moderately intense cardio workouts for 30 minutes a day, five days a week.)
5:35 PM EST, February 2, 2011
Courses for the muck racers
The hottest thing in running is not a new shoe or energy drink. It's mud. And fire. And other things that get in the way of running but manage, for some, to make racing more fun.
January 31, 2011
In-Your-Face Fitness
Jack LaLanne was a healthy showoff to the very end
Jack LaLanne was an incredible showoff, and with good reason.
January 31, 2011
Karen Voight: Good Form: Counteract the drive time
After long hours of sitting in front of your computer or behind the steering wheel of your car, take a break to stretch your hip and back muscles. This move is simple to do and extremely effective.
11:00 PM EST, January 28, 2011
How personal trainers stay fit
You might spot Tamaicka Wilbourn sprinting up a hill on Denbigh Boulevard at 5:30 a.m. Yes, that's O dark 30.
January 24, 2011
Karen Voight: Good Form: Get a leg up on flexibility
Try this move against the wall to develop flexibility in your quadriceps, the muscle in the front of your upper leg. Performed properly, you should feel the stretch running from above your knee all the way up to the front of your hip.
5:00 PM EST, January 19, 2011
What do I do with that?
There's a lot more to the weight room these days than machines and dumbbells. With bands, discs, ropes and balls in every weight and size, the variety of equipment makes strength training more fun and inviting to the uninitiated. These devices are also a great way to make an old, tired program more interesting.
January 17, 2011
Jane Fonda wants you to feel the burn — again
Jane Fonda — whose 1982 video "The Jane Fonda Work-Out" sold 17 million copies — is back in the fitness fray. Three decades ago, her signature leg warmers, striped leotards and pelvic lifts spawned a fitness revolution and a whole generation of women who "did Jane," sometimes with a group of friends, in their living rooms.
January 17, 2011
New fitness DVDS for the older set
If you need proof that regular exercise is a prescription for a more youthful body and mind, look no further than the fitness icons from the aerobics-heavy 1980s. Some of the instructors who first burst onto the scene in spandex are out there promoting new fitness DVDs, decades after they started teaching.
6:54 PM EST, January 13, 2011
Ellen Warren: Gym etiquette: Work it out
In the gym — as in life — there are dos and don'ts.
6:56 PM EST, January 13, 2011
How to exercise your brain with variety, focus
Physical exercise isn't good for just your heart and muscles. "Any kind of exercise will keep blood flowing to your brain, and there is evidence it may help new brain cells grow," says Gino Colombara, executive director of the Alzheimer's Association's Southeastern Virginia Chapter. These workouts may boost brain health:
January 3, 2011
Dance works arms, legs, heart
Any doubts about the transformative abilities of ballroom dance should be dashed after watching one season of "Dancing With the Stars" and seeing celebrities going from flabby to fit in a matter of weeks.
January 3, 2011
Fun Fitness: Resources to help you get started
Here are some resources to help you get started in your fun fitness pursuits:
January 3, 2011
Krav Maga: Get in shape while learning self-defense
Kicking and punching are great for boosting one's heart rate and toning muscles. But add some self-defense and street-fighting techniques and the adrenaline really starts to flow.
January 3, 2011
Kayaking: Get in touch with nature and tone your upper body
Richard Hamlin recalls his initial reaction when his wife suggested they take a kayaking trip while in the San Juan Islands: "I said, 'No, it looks like work.'"
January 3, 2011
Trail running: Run away from life's problems and into a healthy body
Not all runners hit the streets for their workout. Trail runners take to the dirt, bounding up and down hills and mountains on hiking trails, working legs and building cardio while getting a big dose of nature.
January 3, 2011
Surfing: Full-body workout and stress reliever
Surfing may be a clichéd pastime in Southern California, but make no mistake, it is physically and mentally challenging. The pros just make it look easy.
January 3, 2011
The success recipe for fitness: Mix in the fun
Put away the eggnog and break out the tennis shoes — it's New Year's resolution time, and no doubt millions have made the pledge to get fit. Many of them will join a gym only to find they're bored with the monotony of cardio equipment and weight training routines.
January 3, 2011
By Roy M. Wallack, Special to the Los Angeles Times: Gear: Exercise masquerading as old-school fun
Remember how fun it was when you were a kid — jumping up and down, swinging your hips and rolling around on the floor? It was really just stealth exercise, and it can be just as fun for adults with the help of the products reviewed below.
Exercise some restraint: Get a better fitness deal
Regular gym-goers kvetch about New Year's resolution-makers who crowd fitness clubs in the first weeks of the year.
Workout Dos and Dont's
It's the number one resolution for the new year -- to exercise and lose weight. Problem is -- most people go at it all wrong. A little advice to get you back on track.
December 27, 2010
Gear
Roy Wallack: Workouts at your workstation
You don't need to be a Mayo Clinic researcher to figure out that being glued to an office chair all day makes people fat, but that's what it took to start a revolution. A few years ago, the clinic's Dr. James Levine theorized that raising one's metabolism through low-level, daylong movement could burn at least as many calories as a conventional workout at the end of an inactive day. He proved it by grafting a treadmill to a desk — his test subjects got healthier and walked off dozens of pounds without breaking a sweat at a 1 mph pace. Naturally, that led to the Levine-designed $4,199 Steelcase Walkstation, followed by a host of lower-cost, move-while-you-work accessories, some of the best of which are reviewed below.
November 15, 2010
Good Form
Karen Voight: Help for a tight torso
Here's a simple way to gain flexibility in your lats, chest and shoulders using a wall to support your body weight. Remember to do it after training with weights or whenever your upper body feels stiff.
November 1, 2010
Gear
Roy Wallack: Searching the soul of trail-running shoes
As the minimalist tide sweeps across the running world, a battle rages for the soul of trail running shoes: Thin, low-profile padding versus regular cushioning. Do you want the superior ground "feel" and stability of a lower shoe, which can rattle your bones? Or do you go for the taller, more traditional padded shoes that pamper you over rocks and ruts at the expense of that prized feel? We took four pairs out to the trails in Orange County's Peters Canyon for a mano a mano (or is that pies a pies?) showdown.
September 13, 2010
In Your Face Fitness
For that fabulous sculpted body, the Bowflex makes a good coat rack
The people in the Bowflex commercials sure are pretty.
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