Maximize weight Loss, Three simple rules

We do agree the key to permanent weight loss and true fitness is a lifetime commitment to exercise and eating right.

But hey, there must be a shortcut to this goal in there somewhere?

"Yes there is," says Sammie Richards creator of Booty Camp Fitness, a program that invites women to laugh, jump, lunge, and punch their way to a great-looking body. "Just like learning to eat right step by step, we must also learn to exercise that way."

Don't waste your time, for example, on routines or

machines that fail you, she says. Instead, here are the three key principles to give you the most efficient, weight loss workout every time, courtesy of Booty-CampFitness.com:

1. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)-- Forget walking for 60 minutes every day, who has time for that? A 10-15 minute HIIT cardio workout burns more fat. If you spent 15 minutes doing HIIT on a stationary bike, for example, it would be the "calorie burning" equivalent to 60 minutes of walking.

2. Combine Resistance and Cardio Training-- Not only do you burn more calories during the workout if you combine cardio with resistance training, but it boosts your metabolism after the workout because of the resistance portion. For example, cardio alone will boost your metabolism for three to six hours, and resistance training continues to burn increased calories for 24 to 48 hours post-workout.

3. Muscle is Metabolism-- Lifting weights or body sculpting isn't enough. You need to challenge your muscles by working them harder and harder each time. Progressive strength training can be done with body weight, free weights, or machines. All that matters is that it's progressive and it's challenging enough to force the muscles to make improvements. For example, each additional pound of lean muscle mass will burn an additional 50 calories or so, per day.

-J. C. CARROLL, NEWS CANADA

WiiFit: meet the new games mistress

Can you really get fit by playing a video game in your living room? Our correspondent tries out the latest craze to hit Britain -Matt Rudd




Eight at night, it’s been a long day, and a personal trainer is taking down my particulars. How old am I? How tall? How heavy?

Like a suspected drink-driver pulled over by a Texas Ranger, I am then told to balance on one leg. Every time I wobble a bit on the incredibly sensitive high-tech balance board, an arrow on a TV screen zigzags.

When it is over, I have failed to impress. “Balance obviously wasn’t your cup of tea,” says my trainer. “Do you find yourself tripping over when you’re walking?” With a drum roll, I am then told my WiiFit age. I am 44, or 11 years older than I am in the real world.

This, says my WiiFit machine, is not good. For my trainer is not actually a person, but a video game console.

t appears that my muscles are much weaker than they should be. Tact is not the Wii’s strong point. Confusingly, it has also calculated that my body mass index is 22.18 (“ideal”, it says, so why all the doom and gloom?). It then tells me we should set a goal right away.

“Willamina,” it says because that’s the name I accidentally gave myself when I was trying to find out if Matt was an option. “Willamina, although your BMI is in the ideal range, how would you like to set a BMI of 22 as your goal?”

It has finally happened. The machines have taken over. Or they will have by the end of the month. I don’t want you to panic though, because H G Wells got it wrong: the machines don’t want to kill you – they just want to make you fitter.

Wii, Nintendo’s video games console, was already popular but in April, with the launch of its new exercise game, WiiFit, things got out of hand.

In the first two weeks of the launch, spurred on no doubt by the endorsement of the Girls Aloud superbabe Sarah Harding, Nintendo sold 338,000 (complete with that flashy balance board) in Britain and Ireland alone.

One month on, you cannot get hold of one for love nor money. Well, money, yes. The retail price is £69.99 but if you’re prepared to splash upwards of £130, eBay will oblige. That’s after you’ve already spent £180 on the Wii console you need to play it on.

According to the Office of National Statistics, booming sales of WiiFit (along with shoot-’em-up game Grand Theft Auto IV) softened the blow of the spending downturn on the high street in April. While other sectors reported declining sales, entertainment shops saw a 5.3% increase. In these dire times of credit-crunching gloom, one assumes food might be the last thing to go. It isn’t: it’s the WiiFit.

This, then, is a seriously crazy craze. And, weirdest of all, it involves us getting off our fat behinds and doing some exercise. Sort of. Anecdotal accounts of epic WiiFit weight loss are springing up across cyberspace. Suburban streets are hushed but for the swoosh of housewives Wiiing. And one hospital is even planning to use the WiiFit to treat stroke patients.

Could a computer game that claims to make exercise fun be the panacea for our sloth-like age? Will playing the WiiFit guarantee to turn you from couch potato to spring chicken? Or have we all gone stark, raving mad? FOR those of you not yet gripped by the cult of Wii, let me explain how it works. Launched in 2006, the Wii itself is a games console with one big difference. Instead of sitting on the sofa zapping things, you hold two wireless controllers and act out the game. For real. And virtually. At the same time.

In the Wii boxing game, for instance, the punches you throw are shadowed by your cartoon representation on the television screen. In golf, you take a swing and then watch the ball fly off down the virtual fairway. The console picks up your movements from the controllers and interprets them into the game. It is an astonishingly clever piece of technology.

WiiFit goes one step further. With the wireless balance board, it can sense your precise weight distribution. Along with the handheld controllers, it then perfectly recreates your movements on screen as you work your way through a variety of exercise-based games such as hula-hooping, slaloming, tightrope-walking and, less rivetingly, jogging.

You can do a yoga session, aerobics and muscle workouts (the press-ups are just as hard as ever). The more you do, the higher your score, the more levels of the game are unlocked.

Nintendo only goes so far as to describe it as “an easy, simple and enjoyable way for every member of the family to incorporate exercise into their daily routine”, although in the dialogue of the game itself the recurring, hypnotic theme is that by playing it regularly, you are improving yourself.

The government is certainly getting very excited about Wii. In January, even before the latest fitness-specific game was launched, it was considering putting Wii consoles into school gyms as a way to make games lessons fun. By inference, it has accepted that it does have health-giving properties.

There are plenty of online accounts of people using WiiFit as their main or sole fitness regime. One blog full of unsavoury then-and-now photos reports a man losing 11lb in 35 hours on the Wii, allowing him to wear a very strange tuxedo to his wedding (I’ll spare you the web link).

More academic studies are less positive. Liverpool John Moores University last year concluded that if you played Wii sports for 12.2 hours a week you could lose 27lb in 12 months. That’s not a great ratio. It also concluded that children playing Wii games burnt only 2% more energy than children wasting their lives on other games consoles.

Still, some men in white coats are willing to give WiiFit a shot and university staff at St James’s hospital in Dublin are even optimistic it could have benefits for patients. They’re planning to use a WiiFit to treat stroke victims, suggesting it could be a sturdier, cheaper and more entertaining alternative to standard medical equipment.

Joseph Harbison, a consultant at the hospital, says: “We’re considering the WiiFit in the first instance to assess and rehabilitate patients’ balance, as trying to restore a stroke patient’s standing balance is the first stage in getting them to walk again.”

Before installing the console, the unit was trialling a medical device designed specifically to rehabilitate stroke sufferers. The equipment costs eight times the price of the WiiFit. Harbison said that as well as being more expensive, it had only a fraction of the versatility of the Wii, was less robust, less adaptable to the individual and “frankly less interesting for the patient to use”. Meaning, presumably, that it didn’t have a tightrope walk.

Boredom is the biggest complaint made by patients in the hospital’s rehab wing. The plan is that the Wii will counteract this.

Even Darren Campbell, the Olympic-gold-medal-winning sprinter, has got a blimming WiiFit. You would think he wouldn’t need to bother but he is philosophical about why he plays it with his children: “The reality is that games consoles are now part of our lives, and a console where there is a little bit of exercise is not a bad thing. For keeping fit though, I don’t think anything can substitute running on the treadmill, or swimming. I am not going to throw away my gym membership yet.”

T J Salih, chartered physiotherapist and former team physio for Tottenham Hotspur, the Premier League football club, is less enthused, describing the WiiFit as nothing more than a gimmick.

“It’s okay for people trying to relearn their balance. It’s a good visual cue. But because the main measure is the pressure from your feet, you could be doing anything with your upper body to pass the test.”

He goes on to explain that it is almost impossible for us not to cheat when our brains have visual clues. “I often get patients to close their eyes for an exercise, but you can’t do that with the Wii. So the temptation is to do the exercises wrong. I’m pretty sure I’ll be seeing people hobbling into my clinic who’ve been rocking about on their knee, ankle and hip joints for hours.”

Even before the arrival of the balance board, there have been concerns about injuries caused by excessive Wiiing. In January, a group of British osteopaths even coined a new condition, “Wii syndrome”, in response to the rising number of parents turning up at clinics with game-related neck, shoulder and elbow injuries. BACK in my front room, I’m finding that cheating pays dividends. I have become brilliant at the jogging game, mainly because I’ve worked out I can stand motionless and just waggle the control about. It’s so much easier than actually running.

Within seconds, my Mii (my virtual representation on the screen) has run ahead of the Wii pacemaker and the computer is panicking that I’ll do myself an injury. That I might sprint off through the patio doors. It has no idea I’m just standing there giving the stick a cheeky waggle.

For the next hour, I cheat ata lot of things and progress to previously unimaginable levels of sporting prowess. But after five hours, I’ve hardly brokena sweat. Wii, I’m afraid, is not the solution to everything.

Still, I’ve just been on again for another session (if nothing, it’s addictive). And it’s just told me my WiiFit age has plummeted to 38. That might be because I’ve learnt how to cheat in the balancing bit. It might also be because I have fewer clothes on.

I like to think it’s because I have become six years younger overnight. I’ve virtually convinced myself of it.

Incline Trainer -NordicTrack X10

The secret is an incredible 50% incline.

Burn fat faster, reduce impact and shape and tone your entire body. Only the Incline Trainer™ X10 from NordicTrack provides an incredible 0% to 50% incline range– and you can burn up to three times the calories just walking at a 25% incline than you can walking on a flat surface. With a 3.0 CHP Commercial Quadra Drive system, the X10 will power you through the toughest workouts. And it works your upper body with Adjustable Resistance Cardio Cables and 8 resistance settings to help tone and tighten arms, shoulders, back and abs for a total-body workout.


Product Specs:

0-12 MPH 1 Step Speed Control

    Find the speed you want at the touch of a button. The Incline Trainer™ speeds up or slows down on demand, so you can focus on your workout.
 
25 Workout Programs

    Four large LED displays track your speed, pulse, time, distance, incline, elevation, pace, calories burned and fat calories burned. The workouts adjust your speed or incline and focus on a variety of exercise goals: aerobic, weight loss, endurance or performance.
3.0 CHP Commerical Quadra Drive System

    NordicTrack's strongest, smoothest and fastest motor. Get years of reliable, powerful operation with this commercial-grade drive system. The innovative system utilizes a built-in fan that cools the internal motor components, protecting and extending the motor's overall life.

20X56 2-Ply Quiet Belt

    Take full, natural strides while walking or jogging with this quiet, non-slip tread belt. The extra-long belt is designed to reduce noise.

Quick Touch Incline

    Burn up to three times the calories with the 1-Step™ Power Incline, taking you instantly to slopes of up to 50%.

Special Features:

300 lb. Capacity Deck

    Get all the strength and support you'd expect from NordicTrack. The heavy-duty deck is designed to stand up to the toughest workouts.
Navigator Console with 37 Workout Programs

    Four large LED displays track your speed, pulse, time, distance, incline, elevation, pace, calories burned and fat calories burned. The workouts adjust your speed or incline and focus on a variety of exercise goals: aerobic, weight loss, endurance or performance.

2 CoolAire™ Workout Fans

    This built-in, two-speed fan creates air currents from 4 to 6 MPH, the ideal range for body cooling, so you'll stay comfortable and cool throughout your workout.

CardioTrack Heart Rate Monitor

    Just grip the convenient sensors built into the handlebars for an accurate pulse reading. Or use the convenient chest sensor for hands-free pulse monitoring.

iFIT® Compatible

    Instead of going to the gym, what if the workout and personal trainer came to you? iFIT.com® combines the benefits of a health club with the comfort and convenience of exercising at home. iFIT.com® provides programmed workouts via the Internet, compact discs or video that actually control the speed and intensity of your fitness equipment. You get targeted workouts, motivational personal coaching and music. Each workout is designed by a personal trainer. iFIT.com® compatible means your fitness equipment can run optional iFIT.com® workouts in addition to the workouts built-in to your console. All iFIT.com® compatible NordicTrack fitness equipment features the iFIT.com® symbol. iFIT.com® is an excellent resource for fitness. You can learn about nutrition, take the iFIT® Age test and more. Just visit workout.iFIT.com today.


    The NordicTrack Incline Trainer features a limited lifetime warranty. It offers a lifetime warranty on the motor, plus a 1-year warranty on all parts and in-home labor charges. For further coverage, extended warranties are also available.

Durasoft Impact Absorbtion System

    Reduce impact on your joints by up to 28%, as compared to road running, with this superior absorption system that delivers the perfect balance of exercise comfort and joint protection. Walking or running on pavement can wreak havoc to joints, often causing pain or injury. NordicTrack's DuraSoft™ Cushioning helps protect the important connective tissues of your ankles, knees and hip joints. Durable isolator cushioning absorbs impact as your foot makes contact with the treadbelt, resulting in added protection and workout comfort.

Adjustable Resistance Cardio Cables

    Strengthen your arms, shoulders, back and abs while increasing cardio workout efficiency with upper-body exercise cables featuring Digital Resistance Control. Use up to eight different cable resistance settings for a smooth, natural motion.

Yoga and Pilates - iFIT Pilates Cord Kit

Pilates Guidebook
This guidebook stores your CD workouts and acts as a portable guide for the 10 Pilates cord exercises demonstrated in the video. Use it as a convenient reference during your workout.

Pilates Instructional Video
A certified Pilates instructor demonstrates and explains 10 Pilates cord exercises, guiding you through the disciplines of each position, proper breathing techniques and correct use of your Pilates cord.

3 Pilates Cords
You'll be able to tone and strengthen your body without stressing joints. Three cords provide varying resistance levels so you always enjoy a challenging workout.

Workout CD
Your Pilates workout CD includes a 20-minute cord workout which features step-by-step guidance from a certified Pilates instructor. Relaxing music and the sounds of nature help to provide a calming workout environment.

 

Stair Stepper - NordicTrack MTN 740

The pinnacle of home fitness equipment.

There's never been a better exercise for toning and shaping buns, thighs and calves. With the NordicTrack MTN 740 stepper, you'll get a killer cardio workout, complete with adjustable resistance, CardioGrip™ Pulse Sensors, Competitor™ control panel and more. All with the comfort of a built-in CoolAire™ fan to keep you comfortable.

 Special Features:

iFIT® Compatible

    Instead of going to the gym, what if the workout and personal trainer came to you? iFIT.com® combines the benefits of a health club with the comfort and convenience of exercising at home. iFIT.com® provides programmed workouts via the Internet, compact discs or video that actually control the speed and intensity of your fitness equipment. You get targeted workouts, motivational personal coaching and music. Each workout is designed by a personal trainer. iFIT.com® compatible means your fitness equipment can run optional iFIT.com® workouts in addition to the workouts built-in to your console. All iFIT.com® compatible NordicTrack fitness equipment features the iFIT.com® symbol. iFIT.com® is an excellent resource for fitness. You can learn about nutrition, take the iFIT® Age test and more. Just visit workout.iFIT.com today.

Competitor™ Workout Console
4 Built-In Workout Programs
CoolAire™ Workout Fan

    Introducing the exercise feature that's like a breath of fresh air. With one or two onboard CoolAire fans, keeping your cool is easier than ever. Feel the CoolAire.

Ergonomic Handlebars
Adjustable SMR™ Resistance

    This smooth, frictionless resistance system allows you to adjust your workout intensity without interrupting your workout. Choose from ten intensity levels to target specific workout and conditioning goals.

CardioGrip™ Pulse Sensors

    Now you can discover how easy it is to get one of the most effective and efficient workouts possible. With the CardioGrip™ technology, all you do is grip the handrail to monitor your heart rate. It's that simple. No attachments or wires to get in the way. The built-in CardioGrip™ grip pulse sensor is one of the easiest, most-convenient methods to monitoring your heart rate. It's well known that heart-rate training makes your workout more effective. This is more popularly known as working out in your "target heart-rate zone." When you stay in this zone, you can get a more effective workout in less time. As a result, you can burn fat and speed weight loss, improve your cardiovascular health and promote athletic performance. Some NordicTrack treadmills also feature built-in "pulse-driven" programs. These programs actually respond to your heart rate while you work out, delivering another pulse training optio

Bench - NordicTrack E6900 Competition Series™

 The perfect bench for any home.

The perfect bench for any home, the NordicTrack E6900 Competition Series™ offers Olympic-level training, in a sleek, stylish design that's easy enough for anyone to use. With more customization features than you can shake a stick at, the E6900 offers a multi-position bench, a sliding, adjustable seat, a detachable curl yoke and adjustable weight crutches, and safety spotters, giving you the perfect workout environment no matter your size or fitness level. The E6900 also offers a walk-in squat station, a premium, 6-roll leg developer, a large, rolled preacher pad and weight plate storage.


 Special Features:

Olympic Multi-Position Bench

    With a built-in 90-degree range, the multi-position, this stylish bench can be adjusted to an incline, decline or level position quickly and easily.
Adjustable Weight Crutches

    Quickly change the height of the E6900s extra-durable weight crutches, keeping your weights in the perfect position for maximum workout results.

Walk-In Squat Station

    Better isolate your quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves with this innovative, walk-in squat station.
Adjustable Safety Spotters

    Designed to assist you while working out, these adjustable safety spotters prevent unnecessary injury and can be moved to fit your individual workout needs.

Sliding Adjustable Seat with Chrome

    Not only can you adjust the angle of the seat, but you can slide the seat back and forth depending on what station you want to use.
6-Roll Leg Developer

    Built for comfort, this effective 6-roll leg developer helps you build and develop strong quads, hamstrings, glutes and hip-flexors.
Rolled Preacher Pad

    Better target your biceps and forearms, while ensuring proper exercise form with this preacher pad that's been rolled at the top for increased comfort.
Detachable Curl Yoke

    Attach this curl yoke to develop a stronger, more defined upper body and then quickly remove it when you're ready to switch gears and work out on the leg developer station.
Sewn Vinyl Seats

    Designed to compliment your home decor, these sewn seats are more comfortable and last longer than plain vinyl that's just been stretched and stapled on.
Exercise Chart

    Learn which exercises focus on what muscle groups and how to perform each exercise most effectively with this step-by-step exercise chart.

Bike - NordicTrack Commercial 400

Just Like Exercising At The Gym

Enjoy a gym-quality workout with this incredibly well-built bike that boasts incredibly smooth operation and commercial quality features. In addition to the commercial construction, it features the Interplay™ Music Port which allows you to plug in your iPod* or MP3 player and listen to your own music as you exercise. It also comes with 30 different workouts, all created by a Certified Personal Trainer, designed to help you burn calories, tone muscle and lose weight.


Special Features:

ClearView™ Backlit Console

    Perfectly clear and easy to read, the ClearView™ display has a large viewing angle so no matter how tall or short you are, you can always keep track of your workout progress. It displays your time, speed, distance, resistance, pulse, RPM, carbs burned and calories burned.

1-Touch Resistance™

    Instantly adjust your resistance at any time during your workout with the touch of a single button instead of having to scroll through options.
Club Design CardioGrip™ Heart Rate Monitor

    Make the most out of every workout by monitoring your heart rate with these sensors that are built into the handlebars to ensure you are in the right training zone for your goals.
30 Personal Trainer Workouts

    The Commercial 400 comes with 30 different Personal Trainer workouts that automatically adjust the resistance of the bike to focus on aerobic, weight loss, and performance goals.

Compact Recumbent Frame

    More comfortable and easier to get on and off of, this recumbent bike provides plenty of back support.
1-Year Parts and Labor

    As if the lifetime frame warranty wasn't enough, the Commercial 400 also comes with a 1-year parts and labor warranty.

CoolAire™ Workout Fan

    To help you work out longer and more comfortably, this elliptical has a workout fan built right into the console.
350-lb. User Capacity

    This heavy-duty elliptical is capable of accommodating weights of 350 lbs.
Footprint

    18" Wide x 59" Long x 28" High

Adjustable Seat

    This plush bike seat is designed like a chair with a supportive cushioned back and bottom that can be adjusted for the perfect fit.
Interplay™ Music Port

    The Interplay™ music port allows you to connect your iPod®* (and most MP3 players) so you can listen to your own music through the built-in speakers as you exercise.

    *iPod® not included
Commercial Operation

    With a heavy-duty steel frame, traction-control pedals, balanced flywheel, incredibly strong resistance system and more, this bike gives you a commercial gym workout at an affordable home price.