cardio

Research Says My Workout May Be To Blame For Forgetting My Son At The Gym.

July 26, 2011

See? All that exercise made her forget which way gravity works. Happens to me all the time. It turns out that Sammy Sosa and Floyd Landis may not be lying – new research says they may reallynot remember how all those drugs got in their system. Apparently all the exercise got to ‘em. For myself, not being a professional athlete, I thought my steadily declining memory was all my children’s fault. Seriously, when you have to remember the exact location of 4 sippy cups, 3 lovies, and 6 flip-flops at all times things like the periodic table and who was president [...]

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What Do You Eat to Fuel Your Workout? [Plus more exercise differences between men & women]

June 12, 2011

Man, I miss Calvin! Burping noxious flavors is my primary concern when deciding what to eat pre-workout. I know some athletes carb-load while others swear by fasted-state cardio and still others strive for a balanced meal 1-3 hours before getting their sweat on. And let’s not forget the smoothie/shake contingent! ( The difference between a workout smoothie and a shake? Nothing except that women drink the former and men drink the latter.) But who cares about blood glucose levels if I’m regurgitating sausage and peppers between sets? Add in my fish-oil supplement and I might retch on the track. Therefore [...]

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Great Hula Hooping Experiment Results! [Pics! VIDEO!!]

May 31, 2011

YOU GUYS. HULA HOOPING IS RIDICULOUSLY FUN! See? It’s making me all scream-y and caps-y. But I cannot tell you enough how much fun we had this month. Not only that but this has got to be one of the most commented-on Experiments we’ve ever done (and we’re used to getting a lot of comments/stares/crazy looks). Here’s a sample of what we heard this month: Q: I could never hula hoop! My hips don’t work that way! A: Yes, you can! You just need a big enough hoop! Make your own or buy an adult-sized one! Don’t mess around with [...]

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Simple Fitness Tools to Amp Up Your Workout [Giveaway!]

May 16, 2011

Rainbow-striped sweat towel? Check. Hair pulled back? Check. Sports bra adjusted to move armpit skin inward so I can pretend it belongs on my chest? Double check! Dumbbells, Harbinger weighted jump rope, and My Trainer 100-Calorie Workout cards? Check! After a set-up routine that would make a shuttle launch jealous, the Gym Buddies and I were finally ready for today’s sweat fest. Well, except for one thing. Nodding solemnly, we slipped on our weight gloves, wrapped the velcro around our wrists and flexed our hands into fists just to hear that leather creak. Now we were ready for some serious [...]

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Taking Your Workout Out of the Gym [Weird Places I Exercise]

May 12, 2011

image source Embarrassing people seems to be a specialty of mine. It’s bad enough that I have publicly humiliated myself in 200 different ways doing my Experiments (and that might be low-balling it) but to take down my friends and loved ones with my antics? I can only offer them this: Dear Children who may read this 10 years down the road in a therapy session, I am sorry you have an unusual mother. It’s not your fault. Someday I hope you will be able to laugh about my quirks with each other. That’s why I had four of you. [...]

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Should You Count Calories… In Your Workouts? [Measuring workout efficacy.]

May 10, 2011

Trust me, this is one exercise video you do not want to miss! (Eurotrain!!!) *A huge thank you to everyone for your patience yesterday- as you may have noticed, my site was down for most of yesterday due to problems on my web host’s end. Thanks for all the e-mails & sympathy! We seem to be back in business now…* You’ve seen the workout program ads: in between shots of glistening, contracting abdominals and hyper smiling people who only sweat in socially acceptable places – your amped up cleavage if you are a woman, your shaved pecs if you are [...]

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April’s Great Dance Experiment! [Ballet, Capoeira, Latin and Breakdancing oh my!]

April 4, 2011

What I am about to do will likely really torque a certain segment of my readers. Believe me, I do not enjoy causing that little vein on your temple to throb as you resist the impulse to throttle me through my screen but I hope you will at least listen to all my reasons before you get all Kim Cattral on my bikini wax. (Sure she might have been drunk but in my mind that just makes it even awesomer!) For the month of April, I am taking what I’ve found works the absolute best for me so far – [...]

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New Research: The Afterburn Effect is Real! [Do you workout to eat or eat to workout?]

March 17, 2011

The fountain of youth. The holy grail. Amelia Earhart. The second gunman. My electric sandwich maker that disappeared from my apartment freshman year leaving nothing but a trail of crusty cheese in its wake. There have been many epic searches throughout history but none have been more enticing and enraging for fitness freaks than the search for the EPOC. Pause for the clouds to part and the angels to stop singing. Okay then. Excess post oxygen consumption, also known as the fabled afterburn effect, has long had exercisers chasing after its lure of calories burned in your sleep and metabolisms [...]

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Indoor vs. Outdoor Exercise [Not all exercise is created equal, so says the research]

March 7, 2011

There I was, loping blissfully through a beautiful meadow of knee-high grass, sunshine pouring down on me and butterflies, bunnies and dolphins keeping me company. Okay, maybe not the dolphins. But truly, I was the Athleta Catalog Girl. It was a beautiful summer morning and I was doing one of my favorite trail runs around a lake near my house. Inhaling the fresh air (and ignoring how bad my allergies were going to act up later – allergies that I did not have, I might add, until I got pregnant the first time), I was overcome with a feeling of [...]

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The Workout Warm-Up You Must Try [And why warming up is important]

December 15, 2010

There is much to love about this month’s Great Fitness Experiment with Rachel Cosgrove’s book – I think all the Gym Buddies and I have spent most of the last 6 weeks in various stages of toilet sore (yes, we do actually love that feeling) and I’m still losing inches – but the one thing I don’t love is the warm-up. And judging from your e-mails lots of you don’t love it either. I’ve had more than one e-mail asking some permutation of, “Do you seriously do that warm-up? SERIOUSLY?” Warming up is really important. Research has shown that not [...]

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