Spring in to Fitness With Best Buys From True Fitness at Fitness Showcase

True Fitness products have been recognized by the Treadmill Doctor as the “best buy” & Fitness Showcase is the only True Fitness Dealer in St. Louis & Springfield. We are proud to sell their award winning equipment!

We have deals running on many True Fitness products, such as the True PS 100 treadmill which was the winner in its price range for Best Buy treadmill, as was the ES900 Elliptical! Check out our specials in store or on our website!

Fit Tip: Become a Better Tennis Player

Professional tennis players are some of the best athletes in the world. Tennis involves strength, speed, agility, footwork and endurance to last the match. Getting more court time to practice your strokes is important, but even for recreational players, sports-specific conditioning is the key to improvement.

Strength Training: Strength training increases the power of your shots and minimizes injuries by protecting the joints that are subject to repetitive stress. Try a combination of dumbbells, resistance bands and cable machines. Focus on the whole body – legs, arms, back, shoulders and the core. Try a circuit style workout moving from exercise to exercise. Make sure to incorporate rotational movements and balance exercises.

Plyometrics: Speed and agility training are critical for tennis players to get to the ball faster and recover quickly for the next shot. Plyometric exercises like squat jumps, split lunges and box jumps can help prepare the body for those quick moves. Incorporate side-to-side lateral hops and jumping rope for improved footwork.

Cardio: In tennis, sometimes the only way to win is to outlast your opponent with greater stamina. Build your aerobic base through cardio workouts like a group cycling class or lap swimming. Tennis also involves bursts of intense physical activity followed by short periods of rest. Incorporate interval training, like suicide runs (sprinting between two or more predetermined points), to work on speed and endurance.

Stretching: Stretching after every game will help prevent muscle soreness and reduce the potential for injury.

Brought to you by LifeFitness

Fit Tip: Stretches to Improve Your Golf Game

Many golfers start the season with visions of greatness only to become frustrated when their game plateaus or even gets worse. One of the best ways to prepare before each game is to warm up your muscles and your mind. Done consistently, golf stretching exercises can help your range of motion, your strength and ultimately your handicap.

Dynamic golf stretches are the key to a warm up and involve sports specific movements that start with a small range of motion for the first few reps and increase the range as you go. (Static stretches should only be done after your golf game.) Get to the course a little early and do this pre-game warm-up. It should take no more than 10 minutes and allow time for a few practice swings before you tee off. 

Warm up: Do three to five minutes of brisk walking in the parking lot to get your blood pumping, muscles warming and heart rate up a little. 

Golf squat with shoulder raise: Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Hold a club at each end waist level. Bend your knees into a squat and raise the club up to shoulder level. Raise yourself back up, dropping the club to waist level and repeat 15-20 reps. 

Side bends: Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Place a club on your shoulders. Lean to one side keeping your torso straight and switch to the other side. Complete 15-20 stretches on each side.

Leg swings: Start by standing with your feet shoulder width apart. Keep your upper body straight and swing your leg forward and backward. Repeat 15-20 times and switch to the other leg.

Trunk rotation: Place a club on your shoulders holding at both ends and place feet shoulder width apart. With knees slightly bent, hinge forward from the hips slightly (Just like you do when you swing). Turn from side to side, starting with a controlled twist, aiming to get the ends of the club directly in front of you for the last few turns. Complete 15-20 swings.

Alternating toe touches: Start by standing with your feet spread as far apart as comfortably possible. Lean forward toward one leg and try to touch the foot or ankle with the opposite hand. Alternate and repeat 10 times each side. 

These stretches will warm up all of the muscle groups involved in a fluid smooth swing including the shoulders, back, hamstrings and hips.

Brought to by LifeFitness

Fit Tip: Focus on Legs

One of the easiest ways to tone your legs is to get up and use them more with consistent walking, jogging or biking routines. These cardio activities will also burn calories and help reduce overall body fat. But if you are looking for lean, strong legs, the prescription is strength training. Rely on variations of good old-fashioned squats, lunges and deadlifts to firm up the muscles in your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves. 

Try the following leg exercises to train your muscles and get your legs ready for summer:

Take the Stairs: Choosing the stairs over the elevator is one of the easiest ways to work your legs during the day and you don’t need any extra equipment, just your body weight. Make it even more effective by taking the stairs two at a time. Push yourself up with your glutes and hamstrings to work the back of your legs. 

Squats: Squats are one of the best moves for leg toning and glute firming. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, toes facing forward, abs tight and arms at your sides.  Bend your knees to lower your body into a squat position, going as low as you can but no farther than 90 degrees. Pretend you are sitting back into a chair. Sit back and keep your knees over your toes, keep your chest lifted and spine long. Push through your heels and squeeze your buns to rise back to the starting position.

Deadlifts: There’s no doubt, the dead lift is one of the best exercise to tone the glutes and backside of the legs. Holding a barbell or two dumbbells at your side, keep your arms straight and knees slightly bent. Slowly bend at your hip joint, not your waist, and lower the weights as far as possible without rounding your back. Keep your spine neutral and abs tight. Squeeze your glutes to pull yourself up.

Stability Ball Leg Curl:  This is a great exercise to target the back of your legs. Grab a stability ball and lie on your back with your knees at a 90 degree angle and ankles on top of the ball. Squeeze your glutes and lift your hips off the ground. Keep your glutes squeezed tight, hold your hips off the ground and roll the ball toward your glutes and back to perform the rep. If that’s too challenging start with a simple hip lift and work your way toward the leg curl.

Alternating Reverse Lunges: Step back with one leg and bend both knees, lowering your body towards the ground. Align your front knee over the ankle of your front foot and stay on your back toe. Come back up to standing and switch legs. 

Brought to you by LifeFitness

Fit Tip: Get Fit with Your Phone

Your smartphone isn’t just for Facetime, Foursquare and Facebook. It’s also for fitness. More people are turning to apps to track their fitness, enhance their workouts, find better foods and customize their workout experience. Here are just three ways you can get fit with your phone:

Lose It!

Track what you are eating and how much you are moving with this popular app. If you want to be on the positive side of statistics (the people who lose weight and keep it off) track what you are eating. This app is easy to use and its database makes it easy to find, select and log your meals. Plus, it remembers foods you eat regularly so you can easily select them. Track the type and duration of your workouts and find out approximately how many calories you burned. This free app also features an online community for further support and features. 

Tabata Pro

If you are incorporating interval training into your bike rides, running, strength training or plyometrics, check out Tabata Pro. You can change the work and rest time and number of cycles to customize your workouts. Use the Tabata Pro App on your iPhone or iPad for only $2.99.  This great timer will make interval training easier when you’re at the gym or on the go.

Life Fitness LFconnect App

LFconnect lets exercisers enjoy total control of their workout experience. With an LFconnect account, you can create and personalize your cardio workouts by duration, level, speed and intervals. Easily access your personal settings and select from 17 statistics to see on the equipment display, such as calories, pace, time remaining or heart rate. Select your own heart rate targets or interval levels to meet your goals. Your personal trainer can also schedule various workouts for you and track your progress.

Brought to you by LifeFitness

Fit Tip: Use Technology to Improve Your Health

Technology can get a bad rap, often blamed for the increasingly sedentary lives many people are leading. But your phone, tablet and television don’t have to be a license to sit still. They can actually be used as motivators to get and stay fit. In fact, in a global survey of exercisers, Life Fitness found that exercisers that use technology to support their workouts consider themselves to be more successful at achieving their weight and fitness goals.  Try one of these tech-driven tools to lead a healthier life:

Heart Rate

A heart rate monitor can be a great tool for monitoring workouts. Most cardio machines feature an embedded heart rate monitor that clearly displays how hard the body is working. You can also wear a heart rate monitor for indoor and outdoor workouts. To effectively us it, it’s important to know your maximum heart rate. This is the highest number of times your heart can beat in one minute and offers a key figure in determining training intensities. Using heart rate to create interval training sessions or steady-state workouts, can strengthen the heart and improve cardiovascular fitness. 

Wearable Fitness Tech

One of the biggest trends in fitness technology is wearable monitoring devices. They come in the form of bracelets or clips and go beyond classic heart rate monitors. Meant to be worn at all times, these devices can measure movement, calories burned, heart rate, sleep patterns, skin temperature and even blood oxygen levels. Most also sync with mobile apps to help you track these vital statistics over time. Investing in these tools and seeing results over time can be a huge motivator. Some of the most popular wearable fitness devices include the Nike+ Fuel Band, Core 2 from Body Media, Fit Bit Flex and Jawbone UP.

Healthy Eating Apps

With the advent of apps that support meal planning, nutrition tracking and calorie counting, it’s never been easier to eat right. Find tools that fit with your lifestyle to educate yourself about your food and take steps towards a healthier diet. Not sure how healthy that granola bar really is? Apps like Fooducate will analyze the nutritional content of a product and give it an easy-to-read grade of A – F.  Meal tracking has been a long trusted technique for improving eating habits, and it’s even easier today with apps like Lose It!, which features a rich database of foods to help you count calories and even sync with Life Fitness cardio equipment.

Social Accountability

One of the greatest fitness benefits technology can provide comes through social accountability. With just a few clicks you can join an online community like Spark People or LFconnect to connect with others trying to get fit. Apps like Fitocracy and Teemo add a sense of gamification and competition with your friends. You can even take your accountability to the next level with GymPact, which charges you real cash every time you miss a scheduled workout.

This FitTip was brought to by LifeFitness

Fit Tip: Basic Strength Training Tips

Strength training is a beneficial form of exercise for everybody no matter your age, gender, or fitness background. And no, it’s never too late and you are never too old to get started.
It’s important to know a few fundamental principles of strength training:

• Resistance: You have to apply an appropriate resistance to build muscle.  The amount of resistance should be above what one is accustomed to in everyday life.  Add this resistance by using weight machines, free weights, cable machines, various weighted tools or even your own bodyweight. 

• Balance: Make sure to work the entire musculoskeletal system, to avoid postural and strength imbalances and injury. Work several muscle groups at once when possible.   

• Rest: Rest between sets of exercise for about 60-90 seconds giving your muscles a chance to recover before you attempt the next set.  Also, rest 48 hours between bouts of weight training if you are sore.

Other basics to help you be successful:

Use bodyweight. Sometimes your own bodyweight can be the most effective and most challenging training tool. Add bodyweight training exercises to your workout with planks, push-ups, squats or lunges. Equipment like TRX Supsension Training Straps or the Synrgy360 can provide even more ways to make bodyweight training fun and effective.

Make the muscles do the work. It’s important not to use momentum to lift free weights. You will activate more muscle fibers if you lift and lower weights with purpose through your range of motion. If you cannot lift a weight without swinging it, it is too heavy and you should lower the amount of weight you are lifting. As a beginner, select a weight that allows you to go for 15 repetitions. Around repetition 12, you should be feeling a bit of fatigue.  

Practice good form. Stand tall with your chest lifted and your arms naturally at your side. Don’t hunch over in the shoulders or hold tension in your neck. Hold your abs tight.  The stronger your core, the more effective you will be at lifting weights. Make sure you breathe. Exhale during the hardest part of the exercise to fuel the movement.  If you have questions about form, you may consider hiring a personal trainer for a few sessions.

Pay attention to your body. Never work through intense pain and learn to differentiate between pain and muscle fatigue. Muscle fatigue is a feeling of your muscles being tired but pain makes you want to say “Ouch!” 

This FitTip was brought to you by LifeFitness

Fit Tip: Active Date Ideas to Get the Heart Pumping

Thinking of skipping your workout for a hot date tonight? Think again. Step outside of your sedentary dinner-and-a-movie comfort zone and go for an active date instead. Not only is it great for your health, it can be great for your relationships, too. The next time you’re making plans with your significant other, try one of these active date ideas:

Try something new. Choose an activity that is both new and physically challenging to you and your partner; the fun is often in the unknown. For example, try indoor rick climbing, ice-skating, kayaking or snowboarding. You might just discover a new workout you both enjoy. 

Play a game built for two. If you pick an activity designed for pairs, you’ll be up and moving all evening long. Schedule a game of tennis, badminton, squash or even table tennis (it is an Olympic sport). Even a game of pool or darts will get you moving more than posting up at the bar.   

Train together. Sign up for a race together and schedule training walks/runs as you would a date night. Working towards a common goal is a great way to develop a relationship. You can cheer each other on, keep each other motivated and plan for race day together.

Put on your dancing shoes. Dance the night away at a club or concert for a great cardio workout. Better yet, take a ballroom dance or swing class to really step up the heat.

Skip the pay per view. Staying in for a romantic evening at home doesn’t have to equal laziness. Go out for an evening walk or take the dog to the local park. Get off the couch and try an active video game like Wii Kinect or Dance Dance Revolution.

This Fit Tip was brought to you by  LifeFitness

Guide to Common Running Injuries

As a runner, I’m not a stranger to some aches, pains and even injuries now and then. If you’re experiencing the same or are a new runner looking for tips, check out this Guide to Common Running Injuries from the team over at Up & Running. The great part is it's interactive.

Brrought to you by LifeFitness

Fit Tip: Four Workouts You Haven’t Tried Yet

he New Year is the perfect time to shake up your fitness routine and there are plenty of exciting and new workouts to choose from. Here are four workouts you probably haven’t tried, but should:

Mud Runs. Mud runs are growing in popularity because they bring back the kid in you. There are many different types of mud runs with varying degrees of difficulty. The courses can involve climbing over stuff, jumping over fire, balancing across a log, crawling under wire, slogging through waist high mud puddles and scaling walls. People are attracted to mud runs because of the sense of adventure, the camaraderie, the challenge and the fun of getting dirty. Oh, it’s also a great workout.

HIIT. This workout is interval training with two extra words:  high intensity.  High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts alternate periods of work with periods of recovery.  The interval times may vary and the exercises can be a combination of both strength and cardio.  The key is to go at a high effort level during the work periods and make the most of your recovery so you can hit it again.  HIIT is all about working smarter, not longer. 

CrossFit. Unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard of CrossFit and the Workout of the Day (WOD). These intense workouts mix up body weight exercises with plyometrics, weights and sprints. The workout changes daily and the instructor pushes you to give it your all.  It’s a back to basics approach and can be modified for varying fitness levels. 

Barre Workouts. In just one hour, a barre class will work every major muscle group in your body. It’s low impact, fun and if you are consistent you can see incredible results. Most barre studios combine light weight work with isometric toning and ballet inspired moves.  But the workouts are for all ages and absolutely any fitness level.  Dance experience and flexibility are not required.  It’s hot among the Hollywood crowd and a fun way to cross train.

Brought to you by LifeFitness

Fit Tip: Create a Workout Plan to Stick To

How many times have you started a new workout routine in January and fell off the wagon by the end of February? It happens to a lot of people when goals are unrealistic or plans aren’t well thought out. Get focused this year and use these tips to create a workout plan to stick to.

Create a weekly schedule.  Long term goals are great, but it’s also important to break it down into weekly expectations.  Write down a weekly workout plan and schedule it into your calendar like any other meeting. When planning workouts, remember that the Center for Disease Control recommends 150 minutes of cardio exercise per week. Split that into five, 30-minute sessions or maybe 15 minutes Monday-Thursday and an hour on Saturdays and Sundays.  Make it work for you. Add in two strength sessions per week and you’ll be meeting the exercise requirements for a healthy body.  

Log your exercise. Tracking workouts and progress will increase your motivation to show up at the gym. Log workouts with apps like Runtastic, websites like LFconnect or just old fashioned pen and paper.

Find a class and make friends. Group classes are ideal because there’s something for everyone. Add a class once or twice a week to cross train and add varitey. Plus, on those days when you don’t feel like creating your own workout you can just show up and follow the guidance of a group fitness instructor. Making friends in class will make showing up even more enjoyable and will provide an additional layer of accountability.  

Increase intensity over time. Don’t jump on a stationary bike for the first time and go full tilt with the most difficult preprogrammed workout. Doing more than you are ready for might make you throw in the towel. Hop on the treadmill, elliptical or other equipment and work up to an intensity that’s right for you.  Add hills, intervals and zone training as you go. As your strength improves, you can increase your speed, intensity, duration and resistance.

This FitTip was brought to you by Lifefitness

Fit Tip: Ride Inside for an Effective Cardio Workout

Some people assume that a stationary bike is an easy workout. Like many things in life, when it comes to indoor cycling, you only get out of it what you put into it. Indoor cycling can be a very effective, intense workout if you put in the effort. Follow these tips from Life Fitness to get the most out of a stationary bike workout:

Use your whole body. Contrary to popular belief, a quality bike workout involves the entire body, not just the legs. Try not to slump in the saddle. Keep your abs tight and your back, shoulders and arms should be fully engaged. 

Set goals.  Indoor stationary bikes offer a good low-impact cardio workout option for those that are overweight or new to an exercise program. The bike is a great tool for setting your own pace. Indoor bikes will offer a variety of preprogrammed workouts that involve hills, intervals and zone training.  They will vary according to speed, intensity, duration and resistance. By using different programs on the console or creating your own workout profiles, you can focus on improving strength, endurance and speed.

Increase the intensity. Indoor cycling can also be an great cross-training cardio workout for runners during the winter. Once again, work at your fitness level and focus on pedal speed and resistance to continually improve.  Increasing intensity is like a math equation:  pedal speed (cadence) + resistance = intensity.  Many of the newer bikes offer iPod hook ups and heart rate monitoring systems for motivation to challenge your inner athlete. 

Join a class. Group cycling classes, guided by an instructor, are a great cardio workout. These popular, high-energy workouts happen on a specially designed group exercise bike. The pace and speed varies throughout the workout, sometimes requiring break-neck speed, and other times pedaling happens from a slow, standing position. Group indoor cycling burns calories quickly and invigorating music make the classes fun. A novice might participate in a cycling workout for 30 to 45 minutes, while a more advanced athlete could ride 60 to 90 minutes.

All you need to get started on an exercise bike is comfortable workout clothes and sneakers. Try wicking tops or padded cycling shorts to make the ride more comfortable.

This Fit Tip brought to you by Life Fitness

Fit Tip: Stretch to Success

Stretching may seem like an easy thing to cut out of a busy schedule, but the benefits of stretching far outweigh any excuses. Stretching can improve athletic performance, decrease risk of injuries and increase flexibility through a wider range of motion. So take a minute and stretch your mind around these easy tips:

Start with a warm up, not stretches. Did you know stretching pre-workout can actually decrease performance? The perfect warm-up is simply a lower-intensity version of whatever exercise you are about to perform. The goal during this time is to slowly increase the temperature of muscle tissue to prevent injury.

Stretch at the end of your workout. For best results, stretch when muscles are warm, after bringing your heart rate back to a comfortable zone. Static stretches, or stretches held in place, are most effective.  Follow the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines and hold each stretch for 20 to 40 seconds. This will increase blood flow to the muscle and improve workout results. Stretching consistently over time will lead to improvements in flexibility and range of motion. 

Focus on main muscle groups. Pay attention to the calves, hips, thighs, lower back, neck and shoulders. Always stretch on both sides and focus on performing stretches that are sport-specific. For instance, runners should focus on stretching the hamstrings, hips and calves thoroughly.

Listen to your body. Make sure to breath. Inhale to prepare and exhale before going a little deeper into a stretch. If you ever feel pain, stop immediately, back off to a comfortable point and hold. Never bounce when holding a stretch.

Stretching after exercise can help relax and balance tension caused by a workout and save you from tight, sore muscles the following day. Make stretching a habit every time you hit the gym to reap the benefits.

This Fit Tip was brought to you by Life Fitness

Fit Tip: Track Your Health for Better Results

Documenting diet and exercise can go a long way in helping you stick to a fitness regimen. Whether you use pen and paper or a smartphone, documenting your health and fitness routines is an essential part of getting and staying fit. Use these tips from  to stay on track, even during the holiday season.

Log your exercise. You can use a monthly calendar or go high tech with tools like theLife Fitness LFconnect site. The site and mobile app allow exercisers to create and track their workouts and view progress over time. Remember to record both your cardio and strength training routines for a full picture.

Keep a food journal. You can go online and track what you eat through sites like MyFitnessPal and apps like Lose It!, or keep a notebook and write down what you eat every day. Keeping a food journal makes you more aware of what you are putting in your mouth, because you know you have to write it down later. Use your food journal to see how you are doing. Are you eating five servings of fruits and veggies most days? Are you eating too much at certain times of the day? Understanding your problem areas is essential to improvement. 

Track triggers. Be your own support system. Write down times or days when you have trouble eating healthy and see if you can identify any patterns. When do you stress eat? Keep a log of what triggers you. Eventually you can predict when you might emotionally eat and arm yourself with other choices.

Follow your vitals. Keep a list of health stats from doctor appointments and see if you can improve those as well. Weight is the easiest and most visible, but doesn’t give a full picture of your health. For example, you can take note of your HDL (good) and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, blood pressure and blood glucose to get a better understanding of your health over time.

People who track their diet and fitness have more success than those who don’t. Documenting helps you visualize the change you are creating in your life, so get tracking.

This Fit Tip was brought to you by Life Fitness 

Fit Tip: Family Fitness for the Holidays

It might feel like you gain weight just thinking about the holidays, but don’t despair. The holidays don’t have to end up making you feel as big as Santa Claus. You can enjoy the turkey of Thanksgiving all the way to the champagne of New Year’s (and the holidays in between) by using these tips along the way.

Get your family moving.  Weight is always an equation of calories in vs. calories out, so encourage your entire family to be active even in down times. Hop on the treadmill during your favorite holiday TV shows or movies. Park farther away at the stores, mall or post office and take the stairs with your packages. Better yet, get your workouts at the gym in early in the morning before you get derailed by holiday hoopla.

Turn shopping into a family sport. Zigzag the mall to get all the gifts on your list, take the stairs, and skip the escalators and elevators. Calorie burn can triple for each minute of stair climbing vs. mall walking, so take the stairs whenever you can. And while you are at it, do some arm curls with all of those gift bags in hand.

Eat before the party.  Never starve yourself before a holiday party. The hungrier you are, the less capable you are of staying in control. Eat a protein-based snack before the party begins and avoid the grazing mentality at parties. Take a plate and fill it only once with appetizers. Grazing can result in a major caloric disaster.

Escape the sedentary couch routine. Step away from the living room and invite family and friends to get active. Get out and power walk to check out the neighborhood holiday lights. If you have a video gaming system like the Wii-Fit or the Kinect for the Xbox, use it to get a family competition going. Choose gifts that encourage venturing outdoors, such as sleds, ice skates and snowshoes, or surprise family with some new fitness equipment for your home.

The holidays don’t have to mean lights out on your fitness regimen. Just stay smart and the festivities won’t derail your health.

Brought to you by by Life Fitness

Three Ways to Boost your Metabolism

Everyone seems to understand the basics of losing weight: calories in versus calories out. However, we all have met those people that seem to eat whatever they want and don’t gain a pound. They claim, “I have a fast metabolism!” -- which may be true in your twenties and possibly your thirties but the quality and quantity of fuel you intake will build your body’s infrastructure (like it or not) to reflect these choices at some point over the years.

What is metabolism?

Metabolism is the chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life. Translation: The amount of calories you need to breathe, eat, sleep and function on a daily basis.

How can I boost my metabolism?

1. Eat breakfast

Fueling your body first thing in the morning isn’t just for school age children. Skipping breakfast actually slows our metabolism during the day and increases our hunger and appetite later in the afternoon. Slower calorie burn, slower reaction times and high calorie craving later in the day are the result.

Tip: Try simple breakfast ideas like quick oatmeal or cholesterol free scramblers like Egg Beaters 100% Egg Whites.

2. Muscle Up

You don’t have to be a body builder to have a lean muscle to fat tissue ratio. Leaner bodies have higher metabolic rates. Muscles burn calories - fat doesn’t. Muscle also burns calories while you sleep while fat doesn’t.

Tip: Incorporate body weight training programs in addition to your cardio routine

3. Move it

Exercise doesn’t just burn calories, but also improves metabolic rate even after you’ve stopped moving. When your body needs more fuel to move, it first uses the fast energy stores of “sugar/glycogen” in your muscles. Once these fuel centers start to deplete, the body has to break down fat for energy, which it has to work even harder to do. But the best part is, when you stop moving, the body has to work to replace that muscle by burning up more fat and restoring the muscles with more sugar/glycogen to be ready for the next workout. That “after burn” is revving up the metabolism.

Tip: Try something new to challenge yourself or work out with a partner to get some healthy competition going.

Brought to you by LifeFitness

Fit Tip: Crunches Do Not a Six Pack Make

Somewhere far, far away, there is a magical gym where there’s never a wait for a cardio machine at 6:30pm, the bootcamp instructor never raises his voice above a whisper, and jiggling upper arms instantly tighten up after just one biceps curl.  This mythical place is called Imaginary Fitness Land, and it, like spot-training to burn fat, doesn’t exist.

Welcome to the real world, where workout results take time, energy, and variety, and where our body’s ability to eliminate fat, and which specific areas it will eliminate fat from, are influenced by age, genetics, hormones, and some other factors beyond our control.

Luckily, we can control the fat-melting effectiveness of a cardio workout, so keep this real-world advice in mind to maximize your results. 

Two’s company. Combine fat-reducing cardio exercise with a consistent strength training program to tone and sculpt your muscles. Although spot-training won’t work for burning fat, spot-sculpting will tighten and tone the areas where you want to show off your results. Focus on a specific group of muscles during your strength training routines.

Add instability. Use the BOSU ball, balance disk, or wobble board to throw off your balance and force your core muscles to work overtime. With a strong core, you’ll be able to take on more challenging workouts, and achieve success faster.

Pilates, please. Heralded as the secret behind tons of toned tummies, a Pilates mat workout provides an effective ab routine when you want to add some necessary variety to your exercise program. Pilates utilizes very focused and specific movements, so find an instructor to get you started. 

Intensify. Interval training is a great way to incorporate high-intensity exercise into your workouts. Start with 30 seconds of jogging followed by 2-3 minute of walking, then repeat for 30 minutes. Once you can complete the program with ease, lengthen the jogging intervals. Your increased intensity and elevated heart rate will result in more calories burned and a smaller waist line.

The trick to getting the fit, sculpted body you want is to be realistic. If you have overall body fat to lose, you aren't going to see washboard abs without eliminating that excess insulation first.

Brought to you by Life Fitness

Fit Tip: Winterize Your Workout

It’s easy to see why people enjoy working out alfresco, whether you are challenging your friends to a pick-up game of volleyball at the beach, testing the strength of a carabiner on the side of a cliff, or jogging with your dog. But, there will undoubtedly be at least a few days this winter season when Jack Frost’s arctic temperature or dangerous, icy terrain will force even the most stalwart outdoor exercise enthusiast inside. That’s no reason to hibernate. Beat the winter blues (and blahs) with these brrrrrilliant tips from Life Fitness.

Bring the Outside In:  Many of your outdoor workouts can be tweaked to function inside. Try transitioning from outdoor boot camp to circuit training on the Cable Motion Dual Adjustable Pulley machine. Take advantage of Lifescape interactive courses, which will transport you to exotic locales across the globe and are available on Life Fitness Elevation Series Treadmills, Cross Trainers, and bikes.

Make a “hot” new playlist: Few things can shake up an otherwise dull workout like some new music. Harness the transformative powers of music by stocking your list with tracks that evoke warm weather and summertime celebrations. Need some inspiration? Start with Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer”, Buster Poindexter’s “Hot! Hot! Hot!”, and the ubiquitous summer 2012 anthem, “Call Me Maybe”.

Try a new class: Winter is the perfect opportunity to try out a new class and a new way to work out your body.  Group fitness or small group personal training also helps motivate you to show up for the camaraderie, the fun, and the benefits that accompany working out with a pro.  Plus, you may meet some workout buddies to help you greet the spring thaw.

Get in the zone: If you are used to high intensity, strenuous outdoor workouts, you may think it’s impossible to achieve similar results inside.  Try preprogrammed cardio machine workouts that simulate hills and/or intervals and customize the settings to push you both aerobically and anaerobically.  Don’t forget to use a Heart Rate Monitor; keeping track of your zones will ensure you are working hard enough but not overdoing it. 

This Fit-Tip was brought to you by Life Fitness

Ask the Trainer: Am I sweating too much?

You’ve asked and we’ve got the answers to your most pressing summer workout questions. Have a question you want answered by the Life Fitness Academy trainers in future posts? Leave a comment below!

Q: Am I sweating too much or not enough?

A: Did you know there are two to four million sweat glands throughout the body? Sweat is essential to survival and serves as the body’s cooling mechanism. Everyone is unique in how much or how little they sweat based on how active their sweat glands are. There are four factors that can affect the amount: messages from the brain that tell your body it’s overheated, hormones, emotions and physical activity. Instead of worrying about the amount of sweat, pay attention to your hydration level, especially when exercising during the hot summer months. The easiest way to measure how much you sweat and how much water you lose, is to weigh yourself without clothes before an hour of exercise. After that hour, weigh yourself without clothes again. For each pound lost, you lost approximately 16 oz. of fluid. Focus on staying hydrated and replenishing the fluids and electrolytes lost during your workout.

Q: When is it too hot to exercise outside?

A: The heat index tells you what the temperature feels like when combining the air temperature and the relative humidity. For example, if the air temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit and the relative humidity is 70 percent, then it's going to feel as if it's 106 degrees. Most NCAA athletic trainers will not recommend exercising outside when the heat index is greater than 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Check your local weather station to determine your heat index.

Brought to you by Life Fitness

Fit Tip: Improve Your Speed; Improve Your Game

The difference between catching and missing that long touchdown pass (or the train for your morning commute) comes down to only seconds and inches, but can end up costing a lot more.  Put some hustle behind your muscle and improve your overall speed with these easy and quick tips.

Do Strength Training. View your body as an engine: more horsepower means quicker acceleration and faster speeds overall. Focus on building strength throughout your lower body with calf raises, squats, lunges and leg presses, and pay special attention to your hip flexors.  Powerful hip flexors will improve your range of motion and are the key to sprinting faster. Try the Dual Adjustable Pulley machine for single leg and balance work. In addition to your lower body, strengthening your core will improve your speed, balance, and agility by fortifying the connection between the muscles of the upper and lower body.

Do Plyometrics. Plyometric training involves high-intensity, explosive muscular contractions, which enables your muscles to exert maximum force in the shortest amount of time possible, thereby improving your speed. Pre-stretch your muscles and then harness their maximum force by utilizing jumping, bounding, and hopping movements. Jumping jacks, split jumps, squat jumps and box jumps will torch calories and build lean muscle while helping you log faster times.

Do Intervals. Amp up your overall speed with interval training, which alternates short, high intensity bursts of speed with slower recovery phases in a single workout. Interval training will enhance your cardiovascular capacity (the ability to deliver oxygen to the working muscles) and ultimately leads to increased acceleration and speed.

Put on the Brakes. Speed is more than just a mad, reckless dash. As an athlete, maintaining control over your movements and agility is paramount to your performance. You can’t stop and turn on a dime with your legs flailing wildly beneath you, right? The key to slowing down is to have flexible legs, bent knees and lowered hips. Staying low will occur naturally if you are strong enough. Practice flexibility training multiple times per week.  Warm up before workouts with dynamic movements and cool down with static stretches. 

This fit-tip was brought to you by Life Fitness