Work out

Whether you are working out at home or at the gym, there are plenty of work out routines to choose from. Everyone has their preference on work out routines, some people like to make a circuit, some people like to work out their whole body and some like to work out one muscle group a day. If you are trying to gain muscle or tone up, strength training is a must. Weights and resistant bands work well for toning up and or gaining muscle. Some people like to lift heavy and do less reps and some people like to lift light and do a lot of reps, both are effective in getting results. The most important thing to know is to always challenge yourself, if your body is use to weight or work out routine, you must change it. The more you challenge yourself, the more results you will see. According to ask men the more muscle mass one acquires through weight-bearing exercises, the more he will burn fat calories--even at rest. Remember muscle weighs more than fat, so lift those weights. Here is a good upper body work out that you can do at the comfort of your own home.

If you don't like running outdoors or using the treadmill and elliptical, high intensity interval training is a great way to burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time. According to Shape, high intensity interval training describes any workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of less-intense activity or even complete rest. As stated by Shape, research shows you can achieve more progress in a mere 15 minutes of interval training (done three times a week) than the girl jogging on the treadmill for an hour. And according to a 2011 study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, just 2 weeks of high-intensity intervals improves your aerobic capacity as much as 6 to 8 weeks of endurance training. And if you want even more results combine weight training with high intensity interval training. AskMen states combining cardio and weight training is for the best because cardiovascular activity combined with weight training will result in much more effective fat loss. Cardiovascular exercises will raise muscle metabolism during the activity and for a short time after the exercise session. AskMen also states weight training, on the other hand will raise your muscle metabolism during the exercise session and for a long time after the exercise session. Here is a good 10 minute cardio work out.

Traditional gyms vs. Local boot camp/ crossfit gyms

        When it come to picking out a gym, where do you start? Should you go with the traditional gyms such as 24hr fitness and Fitness 19 or Local boot camp gyms? It is important that you pick out a gym that is right for you. You want to pick something that you will be committed to, something that catches your interets and will not get old for you. Everyone is different, everyone has a different schedule and everyone has different goals. Some goals are to loose weight, some are to tone up, some are to gain mucle and some people just want to improve their over all health.
 
     24 hr fitness is your traditional chain of gyms. The great thing about 24hr fitness is that is it open 24hrs a day, so no matter how crazy your schedule is you can go when ever you want. Another great thing is that 24hr fitness has so many locations to chose from, so if your out of town, you can still get your work out at a local 24 hr fitness. LA fitness, Fitness 19, Gold's Gym are all tradional gyms that provide eqiupment and classes. What makes 24hr fitness distinct is that it is 24hrs. These tradiotional gyms have memberships that require payments that are yearly and or monthly. The price varies for all gyms and most of these gyms are affordable. The gyms don't follow up with you if your not attending your daily work outs. They can care less, just as long as your making your payments. For those people who know how to work out on their own and have self-disicpline. A traditional gym is a good answer for them because all they really need is the equipement. For those who don't know, they can always take that classes that gym provides. These classes are at times full and you need to get their early to get a spot. Most of these traditional gyms do have personal trainers on staff, but it is an additional cost.

Local gyms such as bootcamps and crossfit gyms are more of an initmate fitness community. Everyone knows each other and the trainer/instructor knows your name. According to Crossfit Threshold, unlike traditonal gyms who's business models revolve around providing members with general purpose equipment which can easily be used by as many people as possible, CrossFit affiliates not only provide their clients with the equipement needed to establish life-long, sustatainable fitness, but also with: Instruction on how to use such equipment, coaching needed to keep individuals motivated and on-task, educational insight on physiology and nutrition and a community to support you on your journey. These gyms do provide equipement, something that you won't see at a tradiontional gym is tires to flip and ropes to climb. These gyms are unique and do challenge you in a different way. These gyms are more costly and are more of an investment, but these gyms do always have great offers on groupons and livingsocial. According to Marissa Garavito who is a personal trainer and instructor at The Next Level Gym, she prefers the boot camp gym over a traditional gyms. She said she wasn't getting the results she wanted at 24hr fitness and was not being challenged. So she started training at her local gym, The Next Level Gym, and their is where she not only got the results she wanted, but found her passion for fitness. One year later after being a member she became a personal trainer at The Next Level Gym.

Everyone has a different goal and has a different schedule, when picking a gym always find what is best for you. The most important thing is that your trying to become a healthier you.

Childhood Obesity

Growing up I was an active kid, I was always outside playing, involved in sports and it was rare that I would be watching TV.  I feel that because of all the new technological accessories, such as smart phones, IPads, and video games, you find kids hook on these accessories instead of being active. In addition, everyone is always in a rush to be somewhere and many people have little time to actually cook, so when they are hungry and or their kids are hungry they turn to fast food. On the subject, thirty years ago, kids just ate one snack a day, whereas now they are trending toward three snacks, resulting in additional 200 calories a day ("Learn the facts," 2010). Things have changed and it is not a good change as you can see. It is not hard to see why so many kids are obese in America. It is important that parents start taking action.     

            According to Centers for Disease Control childhoodObesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Childhood obesity has both immediate and long-term effects on health and well-being. One immediate effect is that obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease and are more likely to have prediabetes, which can later develop into diabetes. ("Childhood obesity facts," 2013). Now diabetes is only one major health problem, but other Obesity related health problems are heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer and asthma. 

          Kids should not be worrying about these diseases, which is why parents need to take action. Kids will eat what their parents eat. If the parents are eating unhealthy it is likely that the child is eating unhealthy. First Lady, Michele Obama started a campaign called “Let’s Move,” which is dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams ("Let’s Move," 2010).  This idea is just what parents need. It focuses on health and being active. This website provides tips and how to get started. According to Blaze.com, Michele Obama said “childhood obesity is just a public health issue, it’s not just an economic threat, it’s a national security threat as well.” Michele Obama getting involved shows that it is a huge problem and it is something that needs to be solved.  

            Small changes can make a big difference. Forcing kids to play outside instead of watching T.V. can make a huge difference or staying away from fast food and making healthier choices. Implementing portion control by allowing the child to eat a certain amount instead of the whole bag of chips or candy. Taking kids to the park or even on hike at least three times a week. There are many ways to control obesity; you just have to implement these ideas.   

References

Learn the facts. (2010, February 9). Retrieved from http://www.letsmove.gov/learn-facts/epidemic-childhood-obesity

Childhood obesity facts. (2013, July 10). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm