It isn’t the vertical stripes that make refs look lean. Officiating a basketball game provides a workout on a par with playing hoops, reveals a new study in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. (more…)

Sometimes the gym is not only a place to get in shape, but it also provides some entertainment. Here are some funny pieces recently overheard at the gym.

“I think I’ve developed some sort of weird brain-chemistry dependency on my iPod. I literally can’t spin without it. Steve Jobs is an enabler!” – How many of you cannot do cardio without your iPod?

“Running on the treadmill is kind of a catch-22 for me: I don’t really dig it while I’m doing it, but then I can’t wait to hop on and try to sneak under 8:30s the next day. Is that actually a catch-22? Whatever, it’s something.” (more…)

The more frequent your workouts, the faster your weight loss – the equation is simple; the effort sometimes is not. So what can you do to burn calories outside of the gym? Plenty! Here are 5 very simple ideas:

Hot to burn calories by using the stairs You know choosing the stairs over the elevator or the escalator burns calories – but do not stop there, says Pierre Garcia of New York City’s Peak Performance. (more…)

Continued from CrossFit: Diet and Beginner Principles. The CrossFit workouts develop 10 aspects of physical fitness: cardiorespiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy.

The CrossFit workouts are designed in such a way that the exercises in the program change frequently. What is the benefit of frequently changing your workouts?

Doing so keeps your body constantly guessing as to what is coming next, hence your body does not adapt to any particular exercise. (more…)

Continued from CrossFit Training. The diet and beginner principles of CrossFit include:

Eat a “caveman”-type diet that emphasizes lean meats, vegetables, nuts, seeds and fruits, while minimizing intake of simple sugars. Eat enough calories to support exercise but not enough to promote obesity.

Do whole-body exercises. Practice major lifts, such as deadlifts, snatches, squats, presses and clean and jerks.

Do dumbbell and kettlebell exercises, such as swings, thrusters, one-arm snatches and overhead squats. Also, do basic gymnastic exercises on the floor, rings and parallel bars. (more…)

Tai chi is sometimes described as “meditation in motion.” Originally developed in China as a form of self-defense, this graceful form of exercise has existed for about 2,000 years. It’s becoming increasingly popular around the world, both as a basic exercise program and as a complement to other health care methods. (more…)

Have you heard recent news about fish oil possibly being bad for building muscle? If you have, what do you think about that? Do you agree? But what is the logic behind this anyway? Why would fish oil be bad for building muscles? Here is the short story: (more…)

What is CrossFit training all about? CrossFit is an exercise training method that’s sweeping the nation. It is consistent with the tradition of Navy Seal and decathlon training.

The CrossFit philosophy of fitness is that people should be prepared for a variety of physical challenges.

What does CrossFit training involve? The fit person can crank out 20 pull-ups and 30 dumbbell swings and then do squats or stationary rowing without passing out or throwing up.

CrossFit training can be thought of as a “rainbow” training program, because it involves aerobic and anaerobic exercise, gymnastics, weightlifting, sprinting, whole-body exercises and calisthenics. (more…)

Your La-Z-Boy may make you look like one. That’s because sitting shuts down your fat burners, say scientists at the University of Missouri.

After examining the muscle tissue of people being active and of those kicking back, the researchers concluded that parking your butt switches off an enzyme that prevents fat storage.

“The enzyme is mostly found in the muscles that keep you standing up, so if they aren’t active, the enzyme doesn’t function,” says study author Marc Hamilton, Ph.D. One way to spend more time on your feet: Stand at your desk for part of the day, by installing a computer-monitor arm. (more…)