In the late 1970s, a group of extreme athletes participated in the ultimate test of fitness and endurance, The IRONMAN Triathlon Competition. From inauspicious beginnings, The IRONMAN is recognized worldwide today as the most extreme form of endurance competition.  The event is held annually on the island of Hawaii and consists of three phases run sequentially:  A 2.4 mile swim in open water; a 112 mile bike race; and a run of 26.2 miles (the marathon distance).  There are a number of classes of competition by sex, age groups, professional and amateur.  Just finishing The IRONMAN gives significant bragging rights and hero-points enough to last a lifetime.

The promoters and developers of IRONMAN produce IRONMAN Fitness Equipment for the North and South American markets and they have licensed the manufacture outside of the Western Hemisphere.  The three primary products are; treadmills, exercise bikes and elliptical exercise machines.

• Treadmills – Two models, 1911 and 1921, with respectively; 2.5 and 3 HP continuous electric motors, 10 and 12 mph top speeds.  Each has 13 exercise programs and handlebar controls for ease of operation.
• Exercise bikes – Eight models, 3 upright and 5 recumbent, all with a wide variety of resistance and features.
• Elliptical Exercise Machines – Five models, 1 with eight levels of resistance, 4 with sixteen levels.  The base model has 1 heart-rate control and 1 program, the other four have 4 HR controls and up to 12 custom programs

Though IRONMAN Fitness Equipment was developed for home use, they are of commercial quality with sturdy frames, decks, motors, controls and features.  Independent reviewers rate all IRONMAN equipment very highly.  Further information is available on their webpage or through any of a number of equipment distributors found online.

Right after the New Year the business booms at fitness clubs, bodybuilding gyms, health spas and the YMCA.  The reason is New Years Resolutions.  It seems that nearly everyone, male and female, makes a commitment to get into better shape, so they flock to the venues with all those weights, machines, exercise bikes, treadmills and floor exercise areas.  Their resolve lasts about three months, if that.  A few, however, make a serious commitment to themselves and resolve to stick with the program.  Health club owners make their biggest advertising and promotional push during the holiday season, counting on the first three months making their years revenues.

Those who stick with the program do so because many of them are lucky enough to have the personal initiative and true desire to create a better body.  If they are really lucky, they connect with someone to motivate them; a personal trainer, a club owner who will work with them or a workout partner to keep them on track.  They embark upon a basic fitness program to prepare for the real work to come.  A complete body workout program will tone and condition all of the major muscle groups in the body:  Chest, Shoulders, Back, Arms, Waist, Thighs and Calves.

• Chest – Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, Decline Bench Press, Dumbbell or Pec-Deck Flies, Push-ups.
• Shoulders – Military Press, Upright Rowing, Dumbbell Press, Dumbbell Lateral Raises, Bent-over Lateral Raises, Shrugs.
• Back – Lat Machine Pull-downs, Bent-over Rowing, Seated Rowing, Chin-ups, Front-levers.
• Arms – Bicep Curls, Dumbbell Curls, Three-Way Curls (21 Count Curls), Preacher Bench Curls, Triceps Press Downs, Close Grip Triceps Presses, Wall Push-ups, French Presses.
• Waist – Crunches, Leg Raises, Incline Crunches, Decline Leg Raises.
• Thighs – Squats, Leg Extensions, Hack Squats, Abductor-Adductor Extensions, Calf Raises, Lunges.

After a high degree of fitness is achieved, specialized exercises may be added to work to blitz the muscles that are slower to respond.  Advanced students should focus on one major muscle group per workout, with the waist being exercised every day.

Diet is a critical part of every bodybuilding program.  A balanced diet, high in protein with some unrefined carbohydrates is in order.  Alcohol and caffeine should be avoided.

Protein powders and other supplements can be very beneficial, particularly those that will promote greater assimilation of nutrients and those that provide greater energy.

Male fitness effects male attitude.  The fit male exudes the confidence that comes from feeling good about himself, a confidence that extends into everything he does.  It is an attitude that is read by everyone he comes into contact with and is often the difference between super-success or a marginal response in his personal and business relationships.  It is a sad commentary on our society that a fit, healthy male body is the exception instead of the rule.

Male fitness magazines extol the virtues of exercise programs and every one of them outlines programs to build bigger arms, a massive chest, bulging thighs, flaring calves, a wide back and symmetrical shoulders.  How does one really start and what works best?

The magazines are good and their articles are well founded, but a beginner needs more incentive and attention to their individual needs.  A good fitness club with a competent staff is probably the best answer for a neophyte.  Once a program has been set up and some results are being seen, the male on the path to fitness, can adjust his program to suit the schedule and goals.

A typical male fitness program will consist of strength and circuit training, cardiovascular exercises and other athletic endeavors; running, sports walking, tennis and other sports.  None of this activity has to be extreme, but it should be enjoyable.  A committed workout partner is also an aid.  A fit man is a testimonial to the “sound mind in a sound body” principle.

Pictures of Fitness Plans

If you are thinking about starting a yoga fitness plan, looking at stretching exercises pictures can help you learn what poses you would be required to hold in basic, intermediate and advanced classes. You may not want to attend an advanced class right off the bat once you see exercise pictures of someone doing a full head-stand in yoga. That is something you may want to build up to!

The newest exercise rage on the horizon today is Zumba. But what is? Well, it is a Latin routine where various Latin dances such as the salsa are incorporated into an exercise routine. Checking out exercise pictures of Zumba on the internet is a great way to learn about the moves, the poses, what to wear to class and what a typical class looks like.

Learning how to warm up before certain exercises may require you to do specific stretching exercises. Not sure how to perform a ham-string stretch or a specific back exercise? Looking at stretching exercises pictures can help you perform those move correctly. Many people use pictures of dumbbell exercises or other free weights to help them perfect their technique.
Exercise pictures can help individuals find the proper exercise equipment to bring to class. If you’re attending a yoga class and need a mat, there is no better way to check out the variety of options available than by looking at exercise equipment pictures online. The same goes for exercise balls, weights, martial arts and other sports equipment.

Fitness Facility Pictures

If you are thinking about joining a gym or a fitness facility, looking at exercise pictures of the facilities online can help you make your decision. Pictures of various exercise facilities will help you determine if the atmosphere is right for you and if you’d feel comfortable with the clientele. For example, would you feel comfortable in a boxing gym that had mainly men as clients? If not, you may want to keep perusing photos of exercise facilities until you find one where you would fit in.

Pictures of Fitness Equipment

Exercise pictures can help you choose the right fitness clothing as well. If you’re not sure what to wear to a martial arts class, look at some pictures on the web. You can see the various martial arts uniforms, belts, helmets, shin guards and more. If you are looking for specific sports uniforms or jerseys, exercise pictures will definitely come in handy.

Using exercise pictures to find what you are looking for in the way of work-outs, facilities or equipment can really make the process quicker and more enjoyable. It’s always better to be able to visualize what you are looking for to make the process easier and what better way to visualize than through a picture?

A compact frame and small space requirements means these mini bikes take up a fraction of the space demanded by the full size bikes loaded with readouts and designed to provide a total body workout. This exercise bike sits on the floor or on the table, where it can be reached comfortably with feet or hands. Pedal grips work the arms and upper body from a standing position. When sitting, the legs and lower body keeps blood flowing and muscles moving for constant toning exercise. When not in use, the bike stores easily in a rollaway or closet where it can be quickly accessed.

The portable mini exercise bike is great for low impact workouts and overall cardio fitness, aiding in therapy aimed to reduce the problems associated with diabetes, low or high blood pressure, osteoperosis, lower back pain, and a variety of other physical ailments. The smooth circular motion eases stress on joints and limbs, letting both arms and legs move in a natural way without the jarring impact of free weights or treadmills. A constant flow of blood induced by the use of the exercise bike keeps oxygen flowing over important muscle groups that need increased nutrients.

Not to be mistaken for the muscle ripping ordeal of free weights or tension machines, the bike is a total body cardio workout that focuses on the entire circulatory system that is key to the body’s overall health. With the range of workout options, storage choices, ease of transport, and sheer variety of application, a motorized mini exercise bike should find a spot in every American’s arsenal of fitness equipment.

Benefits of the mini exercise bike include:
* increased cardio pulmonary efficiency
* low-impact workout
* rehabilitation therapy
* combat the effects of age or injury
* flexible muscle group development
* use anywhere, stow anywhere

Star Fitness is a an organization of high-quality, well equipped and well staffed fitness centers located in major population centers around the world; Australia, United States, Viet Nam and more to come in the future. The Star Fitness philosophy is to provide the very best in equipment, staff the clubs with the very best in personal trainers, instructors and management; and to create a whole new health club experience. The experts at Star Fitness know that fitness and good health come from a combination of the right exercises and proper nutrition. They have invoked good science to provide personalized programs for all their members.

“Training should be fun,” is the motto at the Star Fitness Centers. Their knowledgeable staff members oversee all activities on personal and group levels and they work hard to make sure that the routines are anything but routine. Making fitness fun is part of what gives Star clubs a very high rate of membership activity and retention. Also, the great results that are achieved by a properly applied program of good nutrition and exercises, along with first-rate Star fitness equipment, assure members that their membership has a far greater value than the initial cost.

Star Fitness is the emerging leader in the fitness industry. Driven by an innovative approach and a sincere desire to help all of their members achieve the highest level of fitness and health available to them, the Star system is both achievable and affordable.

The Crunch:

The most popular stomach exercise is the crunch.  It remains one of the best ways to create strength and power in the stomach muscles.  This classic exercise will sculpt your stomach muscles into great shape.

How To Do It:

Lie on your back, and place your feet flat on the floor so that your knees are slightly bent.  Your knees should be pointed up, creating a triangle point.  Keep your feet about hip-width apart.  Place your hands behind your head.  Breathe out, and curl your torso towards your bent knees.  The purpose of the exercise is to use your stomach muscles to lift your shoulder blades and upper back off of the floor.

You can raise your feet into the air to provide better results to your lower abdominal muscles.  When your feet are on the floor, the exercise isolates your upper stomach muscles, but by lifting your feet in the air while you preform the crunch, you will isolate the lower stomach muscles.

Both of these versions of the crunch are great for building lean muscle and burning fat.

The Weighted Crunch:

If you believe that the normal crunch is too easy, then this exercise may be right for you.  The weight crunch is a more intense version of the classic crunch.

How To Do It:

Lie flat on your back.  Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor, like you would for a regular crunch, but place a medicine ball between your knees.  Squeeze the ball to keep it between your legs while you execute the exercise.  Hold a light weight on your chest.  Lift you legs into the air and curl your abdominal muscles towards your knees.

Swiss-Ball Stability Pose:

This exercise will help you stabilize your flat stomach muscles while toning your entire midsection.  It forces you to balance your body on two balls.

How To Do It:

Grab two Swiss balls, and lie on them.  Your upper body should be on one ball, and your lower legs should be on the other ball.  Your stomach muscles should not be on the balls.  Spread your feet about 12 to 15 inches apart, and place your palms on the floor to balance yourself out.  Hold the position for 90 seconds.

These three exercises are a great way to exercise your stomach muscles to flatten your abs and tummy.

Testosterone is needed to build muscle, and since women don’t have as much as men, they can’t get as big.  This is a hotly debated topic in bodybuilding circles: should the sport support massive women who use steroids and supplements, or more feminine natural bodybuilders who are seen as being healthier and more marketable?

Women also need more body fat than men to support their reproductive organs.  This does not mean that women can’t be toned and still be healthy; instead they appear more toned while maintaining higher levels of fat.  Female athletes can have as much as 20% body fat, which may be heavy for a man, but is quite healthy for a woman.  For competition, female bodybuilders aim for 6-10% body fat, while men typically go for 3%.  This is not a maintainable level, with most of these athletes returning to more normal levels outside the competition season.

What kinds of exercises are used in female bodybuilding?

Despite some physiological differences, women can use the same strength training techniques as men.  Overall, it’s not much different than power lifting, with heavy weights lifted only a few reps, often “to failure,” when they are not physically capable of lifting the weight again.  Because symmetry is part of the “ideal” bodybuilder’s body, trainers will often work only on specific muscles to get a more even shape.  Surprisingly, workouts happen only three times a week to give the body some time to recover.

Cardio is important for building up the heart and lungs to support muscle building, but mostly takes a back seat to weight training.

What do female bodybuilders eat?

Alongside exercising, muscle gain and fat loss is mainly a matter of diet.  There are numerous bodybuilding diets, but most consist of the same food: one-third lean protein, one-third complex carbohydrates, one-third vegetables, and a small amount fat.  Small meals are eaten throughout the day to maintain a fast metabolism: this way the body is always in a building mode, not a fat-storing mode.  This diet has caught on with medical professionals as a healthy way to lose weight.  Even the Atkins diet, known for its massive amounts of meat consumption, has changed to be closer to this model.

Bodybuilders “bulk” and “cut,” eating a lot of food when they’re trying to build muscle, while scaling back some when trying to lose fat.

A good crosstrainer fitness routine involves many different types of exercises, including cardio, strength, and agility. One of the best benefits to this, as opposed to focusing on one particular type of exercise, is that you are less likely to burn out and get tired of doing that particular exercise. Everyone will have a favorite that they look forward to, and a least favorite that they look forward to getting finished with.

Although not as inherently moody as the human brain, our bodies also benefit from the variety of crosstraining fitness foutines. Agility training is like a cool down period for the heart after a good cardio workout, and a cardio workout that consists of bicycling of some sort is a cool down for the arms, while bench pressing would be a nice break for the legs. Before you know it, you are going without stopping, yet not stressing unduly stressing your body or any particular muscle or set of muscles. Not only will this increase the amount of actual exercise that you get done, but you will get it done a lot faster.

Most crosstrainers fitness regiments take it a few steps further. Instead of just adding different types of exercises to the routine, you can also vary the exercises themselves. So instead of just one cardio exercise within a given regiment, you could do both rope jumping and rowing, for instance. Strength training is even more variable since it inherently targets specific groups of muscles anyway. So, if you are really wanting to focus on strength training, you could always build a regiment that worked a particular, different set of muscles for every other exercise.

Cross training is a real example of getting a lot more for a lot less. If you are serious about getting in shape, or improving your overall abilities, then you should be serious about crosstrainer fitness. Not only is it a far more efficient way to accomplish your goals, you are more likely to stay engaged, and the impact on the body is far less than any other method of exercising that could possibly produce anywhere near the same results.

Fitness is typically endured at a breakneck pace. The average person works out at blinding speeds during a busy schedule. This rushed attitude is not appealing to some people. Spa fitness is a different mentality altogether. It is about enjoying and exploring good health with proper stretching, workout, diet, and relaxation. This is a more thorough type of fitness that considers stress relief as a part of the routine.

What Makes A Spa Fitness Center So Much Better?

Spa fitness recognizes that good mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health go hand-in-hand. You can’t just rush into the gym between meetings and get the full benefit of a healthy lifestyle. Stress, anxiety, and other emotional problems can cause poor health as well. While exercise does reduce stress, relaxation techniques are a super weapon against such problems. This is what makes health spa fitness such an enjoyable process. It puts equal attention to good emotional and spiritual health.

Pampering Your Body Makes the Challenges Easier

When you are pushing your body to the limits, it deserves a little special attention. Spas fitness recognizes the need to soothe and pamper your body after you test its capability. A spa fitness setting can help you explore good health in a way that feels good as well. There is thought put into a relaxing experience that will make fitness and weight loss enjoyable. This is crucial for a healthy lifestyle. Enjoyable activities that promote good health are key for developing habits that will last.

Fitness Should Involve Total Body Health

Stretching, cardiovascular activity, weight training, yoga, meditation, massage, and skin treatment are all parts of total body health. Enjoying clean natural air is important as well. A spa fitness club fully understands this reality. You can’t have good health in only one category. Total health is very important. Happiness is also a big factor in long term health. A good attitude will motivate your body in unique ways. Massage can help cleanse the muscles of stress. Meditation will improve mental health. All of these factors affect how healthy you are. These are issues that spa fitness takes seriously. For people who don’t enjoy rushing into the gym, this is exactly what you need. A healthy lifestyle involves many different elements, all of which are taken into account by those who provide spa fitness.