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Hi ,
Cardio vs Strength Training
Does a cardio workout have an advantage over strength training? What is the perfect formula for weight loss? What will achieve the quickest results? How do I continue to maintain the discipline with my training once I’ve started?
The limitations of doing just one type of training over the other differ depending on your exercise of choice. Limiting yourself to just strength training means that your overall workout can only be done at a lower intensity as you allow the muscles time to recover. Having said that, pounding the pavement day after day can lead to overuse injuries and may end with you needing time off training to recover.
Pros and Cons of Cardio Training
Pros
When it comes to burning kilojoules, cardio has the edge. Going for a 60 minute run or cycle will burn more kilojoules than completing a 1 hour weights session at the gym.
There is convincing evidence that shows regular exercise can improve health in a number of ways including reducing stress and anxiety. Cardio is believed to have a faster head-clearing effect than weights.
The heart strengthening benefits of cardio are many, a stronger heart will pump more blood with each beat, circulating oxygen more effectively throughout the body and in time your body becomes more efficient at using that oxygen.
To get there faster, cardio wins. If your goal is to run a marathon, complete a triathlon, or walk Kokoda, the best way to train for an event is to practice it.
Cons
The repetitive nature of cardio puts pressure on your joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles which can lead to injury.
Running, cycling, swimming can become repetitive and boring, which sometimes leads to participants throwing in the towel.
Pros and Cons of Strength Training
Pros
Strength training has an important role to play in maintaining strength and flexibility. This becomes even more important as we age, bones that have been conditioned to respond to pressures and weight loads will have a huge benefit over others as the body ages.
Muscles respond well to resistance training, leading to a more toned appearance in a relatively quick time frame. This also leads to improved self-confidence as your body transforms.
A wide variety of exercises can be performed, challenging and improving your strength.
The use of weights are great for rehabilitation of injuries as they allow you to focus on strengthening particular muscles that may have weakened over time.
Cons
More supervision is required to ensure the exercises are performed correctly to prevent injury.
Some exercises are difficult to do as you rely heavily on a strong core to perform them properly.
Cardio vs Strength Training - Which wins? A Draw! Both cardio & strength training should be regular components of your exercise program. It's not what exercise that you do but rather choosing an exercise where you can maintain consistency, intensity and sustainability.
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A Quick Guide to Getting the Most Out of Your Workout |
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 Be intense with your workout
The harder you exercise, the more kilojoules you burn. As far as getting fitter, faster and stronger, the only way you are going to achieve these results is to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Choose a heavier weight or resistance band, take shorter rests between each exercise, where you normally do 10 push ups on your toes, see if you can push that out to 15.
Choose your exercise carefully
There is no “ultimate” kilojoule burning activity. How much energy you burn depends not on the activity itself but the effort you put in, how good you are at it, how long you can do it for and how often you are prepared to do it. That means doing something you enjoy, how accessible it is and how practical it is to fit into your lifestyle.
Sustainable exercise
To get any real benefit out of your training session it needs to be sustainable for a reasonable period of time, although it doesn’t need to be a continuous effort. If you can only swim one length of a pool, it is probably not the ideal workout for you. You can mix it up-weights, running, boxing, swimming; you should be aiming for at least 30 minutes of exercise most days.
Interval training to maximise kilojoules burned
A great way to maximise kilojoules burned and to improve your aerobic fitness is to combine hard effort with a recovery. A good way to do this with running is to throw in hill runs and sprints, intensifying the effort for short periods and get you working outside your comfort zone. We include interval sessions in our group training sessions and bootcamps on a regular basis.
Include weight bearing exercise
Activities that are weight bearing, including walking, running and own body weight exercises like push ups and squats burn more kilojoules simply because you have to shift your own body weight against gravity.
Circuit training
A circuit training routine combines both strength and cardio exercise to increase your kilojoule burning rate. This involves alternating between strength and cardio exercise with little to no rest between. By doing this you allow your muscles time to recover from the strength exercises and you get a chance to catch your breath during the weights so that you can work to your maximum capacity throughout the entire session.
Put simply, the best results will only come from a committment to train hard and train regularly. |
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July Boot Camps-Great Balance of Cardio & Strength |
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July Bootcamps start the week commencing July 23. Book in now to reap the benefits of doing both a cardio and strength session in one. Great sessions with lots of variety will to get you looking hot before summer.
Cost is only $120.00 for our previous Boot Campers & $140.00 for those doing Boot Camp for the first time.
Ashgrove Sports Ground, Ashgrove (Mon & Wed 5.30am) Jul 23, 25, 30, Aug 1, 6, 8, 13, 20
Botanic Gardens, City (Mon & Wed 5.30pm) Jul 23, 25, 30, Aug 1, 6, 8, 13, 20
Whites Hill Reserve, Coorparoo (Tues & Fri 5.30am) Jul 24, 27, 31, Aug 3, 7, 10, 14, 17
Anzac Park, Toowong (Tues & Thurs 5.30am) Jul 24, 26, 31, Aug 2, 7, 9, 14, 16
Shaw Park, Kalinga (Tues & Fri 5.30am) Jul 24, 27, 31, Aug 3, 7, 10, 14, 17
Botanic Gardens, City (Tues & Thurs 6.00am) Jul 24, 26, 31, Aug 2, 7, 9, 14, 16
Click here to enrol online. |
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Fitness 4 U Legend of the Month |
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 A new feature of our monthly e-News will be identifying a Fitness 4 U Legend. Our very first legend is Peter, who attends our 5.30am Group Training sessions at Ashgrove.
Peter started training with Fitness4U at Ashgrove about three years ago. His wife, Jen was attending the sessions and he could see her getting really fit and decided to give it a try for himself. When Peter first started with us he was flat out running around the oval, whilst running is still not his favourite part of training (he suffered a broken toe last year while going for a lunchtime run and so rates it as a high risk activity) he has improved considerably. From there he has steadily gained fitness and stength and is one of the few people who attend our sessions who can benchlift 25kg dumbbell weights. This is Peter's favourite exercise.
What Peter loves about the sessions is the combination of strength and endurance exercises. In fact with Peter's gains in fitness he felt confident enough to tackle the 100km Oxfam Walk last year. Whilst he finished a little worse for wear he was still walking at the end and completed the challenge.
At 55 years young, Peter has recently started a new business and returned to physical work at an age when he thought he wouldn't be able to do so. Training with us has given Peter confidence and a sense of general well being.
There have been the occasional times, usually when the temperature drops to single digit figures when Peter has skipped a few fitness sessions but he always comes back to and feels better for it. When he isn't training he notices a real difference.
Congratulations Peter, you are worthy of legend status. |
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Exercise of the Month - Reverse Crunch |
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 This month's exercise focus is on the reverse crunch. In order for this exercise to be an effective ab exercise, we need to move the focus off getting your legs as high as you can in the air and refocus on subtlety. With this move, you're curling the hips off the floor, so you'll feel this in the lower part of the abs. The key to this move is to avoid swinging the legs to raise the hips. This is a small, subtle move, so you only need to lift your hips a few centimetres off the floor.
How to:
1.Lie on theground and place hands on the ground or behind the head.
2.Bring the knees in towards the chest until they're bent to 90 degrees, with feet together or crossed.
3.Contract the abs to curl the hips off the floor, reaching the legs up towards the ceiling. Your legs will simply move as a result of this action not because you are moving them.
4.Lower and repeat.
5.It's a very small movement, so try to use your abs to lift your hips rather than swinging your legs and creating momentum.
Aim to do 3 sets x 20 reps with a 30 sec break between sets. |
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Recipe of the Month-Chocolate puddings with choc sauce |
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 A little indulgence for the cooler winter months-It's Weight Watchers.
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 30 min
Level of Difficulty: Moderate
Ingredients
50 g reduced fat margarine
50 g caster sugar
2 small eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla bean extract
100 g self-raising flour
1 1/2 tbs cocoa powder
50 g white chocolate block
1 tbs Cornflour
1 tsp artificial sweetener powder, or to taste
Instructions
• Use 1 tsp margarine to lightly grease 4 x 1 cup capacity ovenproof ramekins, or heatproof teacups. Cream remaining margarine with caster sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in eggs and vanilla extract.
• Sift in flour and 1 tbs cocoa powder and fold into mixture using a large metal spoon. Add 3 tbs warm water to make a smooth consistency.
• Spoon mixture into prepared ramekins. Cover tightly with pieces of foil.
• Transfer ramekins to a bamboo steamer placed over a large saucepan of simmering water. Cook for 30 minutes, or until cooked when tested with a cake skewer.
• To make sauce, place chocolate, cocoa powder, cornflour and ½ tbs water in a small saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth.
• Carefully turn chocolate puddings out onto serving plates and spoon over hot chocolate sauce.
Notes
• If you don't have a bamboo steamer, place ramekins into a large saucepan and add enough hot water to come about a third of the way up sides. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, checking that the water doesn't boil dry.
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Brisbane City Council - What's on offer? |
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 In July there are a whole new series of free and low cost sessions that we are conducting on behalf of the Brisbane City Council. We are jumping on the Bridge to Brisbane bandwagon and offering the cross-training sessions for runners that we have been saying are so important.
6 Week Lifestyle Change: Woolcock Park, Red Hill (free) Mon 9.15am - 10.00am Jul 9, 16, 23, 30, Aug 6 - Meet at Payground
Lunchtime Workout: Botanic Gardens, City ($5) Mon 12.15pm -1.00pm Jul 9, 16, 23, 30 - Meet at Albert St Gates
6 Week Lifestyle Change: Whites Hill Reserve, Coorparoo (free) Tues 9.15am - 10.00am Jul 10, 17, 24, 31, Aug 7, 14 - Meet at Main Soccer Ground
Fitness Circuit: Riverside Park, Seventeen Mile Rocks ($3) Wed 10.00am - 10.45am Jul 11, 18, 25, Aug 1, 8, - Meet at Payground
No Gym, No Excuse Workout: CB Mott Park, Holland Park (free) Fri 9.15am - 10.00am Jul 13, 20, 27, Aug 3 - Meet at Payground
8 Week Weight Loss Challenge: Orleigh Park, West End (free) Sat 7.00am - 7.45am Jul 14, 21, 28, Aug, 4, 11, 18, 25, Sep 1 -Meet at Payground near bus depot
Bridge to Brisbane Cross Training: Rasey Park, Herston (free) Tues 5.45am - 6.30am Jul 24, 31, Aug 7, 14, 21, 28 - Meet at Payground
Bridge to Brisbane Cross Training: Enoggera Memorial Park, Gaythorne (free) Thur 6.00am - 6.45am Jul 26, Aug 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 - Meet at Payground
Bridge to Brisbane Cross Training: Dorrington Park, Ashgrove (free) Fri 7.00am - 7.45am Jul 27, Aug 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 - Meet at Clubhouse
Super Seniors: Whites Hill Reserve, Camp Hill ($3) Fri 10.45am - 11.30am Jul 27, Aug 3, 10, 17, - Meet at Main Soccer Field |
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Quotes to inspire you to train hard |
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If you actually want something, make an effort. Everything isn't just going to come to you. Author unknown
If you still look good at the end of your workout you didn't train hard enough. - Author unknown |
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Group Training |
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 Our 5.30am Group Training session at Langlands Park will be put on hold until September 6. We thank all those who have attended this session & look forward to seeing you again in the Spring.
You've taken advantage of our June special, so don't waste it. Although July in Brisbane might be the coldest month, it also one of the months with the least rainfall! Keep up those good habits and maintain your fitness levels right through winter.
Check out our session times & join us whenever you can. Cost is $110.00 for 10 sessions or $15.00 a session. 10 session cards may be used for both Group Boxing and Group Training sessions. |
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Group Boxing - Evening and Mid-morning sessions |
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 If the early morning sessions really are too hard for you there is an alternative. Combine the benefits of cardio and interval training in one session, push yourself to your limit and then recover while holding the pads for your partner, ready to give it your best effort all over again.
Join us at our mid-morning and evening classes at Ashgrove or Kangaroo Point Cliffs and intensify your workout.
Click here for session details. |
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Personal Training-Why? |
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 Working shiftwork, recovering from injury, returning to exercise after a long break, no longer living or working close to any of our group training locations. These are some of the reasons you might consider having personal training sessions with Fitness4U.
We come to you, with all our equipment and with a session designed with your needs in mind.
With the added advantage of being able to attend any group sessions as part of the deal, why would you train anywhere else?
Click here for more information. |
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Corporate Training-Team Spirit |
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 Corporate training is a great way to bring workmates together, providing your staff with an opportunity to not only exercise but also to socialise and interact with each other away from the work enivironment.
The health benefits, comraderie and tean spirit it provides are just three more reasons you should give corporate training a try.
Click here to read what clients are saying about us. |
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