Stuff for Sports Fans

Having been a seasoned certified personal trainer in the Los Angeles area for a great deal of time, I ofttimes have the probability to talk with humans with regards to their likes and dislikes, the pros and cons in regard to fitness programs. I’ve always considered these conversations to be very priceless feedback and over the years, it’s become an endless personal exploration project for me. I listen intently, then procedure the data I am given and use it daily to become a better, more conscious personal trainer for myself and my cherished clients. As a result of innumerable conversations with people both in and outside of the gym, males and females of all ages and fitness levels, the one thing that always seems to come up in speech is the fact that most humans genuinely seem to struggle with their cardio workouts. Staying motivated, engaged and reaching plateaus being the most key issues.

Unlike a basic weight-training program, a sound cardio program is best done closely each day. My recommendation to most clients is to participate in a quality aerobic action 4-5 days a week, for a minimum of 35 minutes per session. People have to realize that a cardio conditioning-program is something we all “have to” carry out with vigilance, because the health benefits, both physical and mental are enormous! Our lives genuinely depend on it.

I think the biggest problem most persons have regarding a cardio workout is plainly boredom. At the gym, I often see that the majority of people are creatures of habit and do the same aerobic workout day in and day out. It’s no wonder that most of these persons are bored out of their minds, dread their cardio workout and lack motivation and drive. Not only is this exercise bad for their mental state, doing the same workout, at the same intensity level and the same time duration over and over again will put you in a severe fitness rut (physically and mentally). This exercise will likewise principally inhibit any real fitness gains and in addition, may increase the danger of possible injury down the road.

To achieve fitness gains the body ought to without disturbance be tricked or gulled by altering or mixing things up in your workout. You have to keep the body guessing at all times. You may never let the body get too comfortable; it needs to be shocked and surprised.

In a gym workout, you may plainly and very efficaciously shake things up by performing a dissimilar type of exercise. For example, one day take an aggressive spun on a lifecycle bike, the next a run or power-walk on a treadmill, the following day a strong stair climber session and so on. Today, alternating pieces of workout instrumentation is a snap in most fitness clubs. There are so numerous cool choices available to us. (Keep in mind that you may likewise mix things up weekly. One week use the treadmill for your cardio sessions, the next week the bike etc). This type of training method is not only fun and keeps your mind engaged it likewise gives you an probability to rest and use dissimilar muscle groups which will support prevent sprains and over-use injuries. Doing the “same old-same old” is never fun.

You may likewise mix things up by altering the duration, or time you exercise. One day do a more basic 35-minute cardio workout, the next day actually challenge yourself and do a 50-60 minute cardio workout. Challenge is a good thing (always do it safely, it’s a huge gain to have a personal trainer to work with); you will find the gains will be more then just physical but mental as well. Reaching goals or completing a challenge, in this case – a tough workout, has a great deal of positive mental effects. The sense of accomplishment is great, be it in the boardroom, at home, the athletic field or gym.

Another way to mix things up is to alter or modify your workout intensity. You may increase the level of intensity for the entire length of your cardio workout session from day to day (one day hard, two days normal, one day hard, etc.) or use a method used by galore athletes called interval training. I many times refer to this training method as “adding a cardio blast to your workout.” To explain this, I will reference a treadmill and power walking. To boost the workout intensity, you may either increase your speed or pace (in regards to walking) or you may increase the treadmills incline. These two methods are effective means of increasing your workout intensity. You may use one or the other, or even both depending on your current fitness level and goals. So walk for ten minutes, then increase the incline for five minutes, lower it for five minutes and increase the speed for five minutes and so on. As you may see there are endless compoundings available, just don’t stay at the same pace (speed) or incline for the entire workout. Break things up and don’t be affrighted to push yourself; breathe hard and break out into a good sweat (you will feel so good when you’ve finished your workout). (Providing that you do not have any health limitations or concerns. One ought to always consult the counsel of their medical provider before starting a new workout program). Monitor your heart rate if the machine you are using is equipped or buy yourself a more precise heart-rate monitor; watch the rise and fall of your heart rate as you increase and decrease the intensity. You will see your recovery heart rate change (the rate will lower more quickly after max effort) and as you get in better shape you will observe that at max effort (high intensity), your heart rate is now beating slower.

Listening to music is also a outstanding way to keep you from falling into a cardio workout funk. Something up-beat with a driving groove will keep you happy and moving for sure. My personal gym iPod is loaded with a potpourri of fitness inspiring grooves, from old school funk and disco, to rock, hip-hop and club music. It’s best to have something to fit your each mood. Again, helping to mix things up.

A severe word of counsel from a personal trainer: unquestionably leave the magazines, books, scripts (if you live in the City of Angels), cell phones, PDA’s, etc. at home or in your locker. Bottom line is, if you may use any of the above while doing your cardio workout, you are wasting your time at the gym and surely not working hard enough. Unfortunately, the only person you are fooling is yourself. Your time is valuable, so if you are going to make the crusade to go to the gym, use your time wisely. Why not make the most of it? Don’t cheat yourself.

Another way to get you out of a cardio fitness funk is as simple as buying yourself something new. Be it a new workout outfit or a new pair of running shoes, it’s astounding the strong psychological effects something so simple has. At the danger of sounding vain, if you look good, you feel good and if you feel good, you will get the most out of your workout.

So get up, get out and get moving! Start experiencing the gains of good health, which is without doubt, the greatest gift we are given in life. It’s never too late and there is in truth no pardon not to make positive changes in your life.

Cardio Funk

Cardio Funk:
o Introduction
o Warm-Up

Workouts
o Hip Hop – Lauren
o Contemporary – Travis
o Disco – Courtney
o Cardio Funk Bonus Workout
o Cool Down

Cardio Funk Image

Cardio Funk Image

Cardio Funk Picture

Cardio Funk Picture

Most helpful client reviews

44 of 44 persons found the following review helpful.
Fun!!! Great workout as well.
By lunasera
Especially while the show is airing, who doesn’t want to feel like they may be share of So you think you may dance! Totally fun to dance with a bunch of dancers from past seasons, and get a outstanding workout at the same time.

Three dissimilar styles of dance routines (hip hop, contemporary, and disco), you may pick one or do all three, and there are discerned chapters for the instructions to learn the routines that you may skip and go straight to the workouts after you get them down. Learning the steps is nice and slow, and easy to follow or repeat if you get lost. Then in the workouts they get started with doing the procedure counting, and get faster, add music, until it’s more like a performance at the end – just music no counting at full speed. There is likewise a bonus dance that mixes the styles together. The dancers on the video are Travis, Katee, Dmitry, Twitch, Lauren, and Courtney.

My only slight complaint is the music is a bit generic, so you aren’t going to feel like you are telling any kind of story in the procedure like from the show, but after all it is an exercise dvd, so this isn’t that huge of a deal. It would be cool if they came out with a couple that were concentered more on just dance so you feel more like a real routine though. But for now I’m finelooking happy they did this at all, and I’m looking forward to attempting the other one, Tone and Groove!

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful.
First impression-AMAZING!!!!
By lovehitzalot
I just received the So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit Cardio Funk and Tone & Groove dvds yesterday (I tried CF yesterday and T&G today), so my reviews will be based on my firstborn impressions, and then I’ll edit them again later with regards to the long term results.

First thought-I LOVE these dvds! Because the routines were explained well and taught in a progression, I was competent to pick up the choreography for each dance the firstborn time through, altho I felt all of the routines were unquestionably challenging and VERY effective as workouts! After just finishing the second dvd today; my muscles are sore, I’m sweating, and I feel fantastic (and like I worked genuinely hard)! The dancers were all very energetic, encouraging, and none of them ever missed a beat/step on the routines. It was stimulating to see all of these outstanding personalities from the show (definitely 5 of my a great deal of favorites) choreographing, dancing, and having such a blast out there-and it’s even more fun to dance along with them!

Getting down to business, the menu screen has a ‘Play All’ option which takes you through the warm-up, all 3 routines (with instructions), and the cool down. In the ‘Workouts’ section, you may choose among the 3 routines (with or without instructions) and the bonus workout that combines the three styles with a good deal of extra steps (also with our without instructions). The Warm-Up and Cool Down sections are taught by the whole group of dancers, switching off. They’re the same combining of dance-infused stretchings on both dvds and they’ve got a funky flavor going on the Warm-Up and more of a bluesy tone on the Cool Down. I found them to be to the full or entire extent effective in preparing me for the workouts and cooling me down afterward, as well as gratifying ways to commence and end the session. For extra amusement value, the dvd also includes consultations with the three dancers featured on the front cover, as well as with Nigel Lithgoe. The dancers’ consultations include behind the scenes clips from their workout rehearsals, taping, and photo shoot, as well as them just goofing off with each other and having fun. I suppose that all fans of the show would in truth take pleasure in these elements as much as I did. Anyway, I chose to ‘Play All’ and then carry out the Bonus dance with instruction and my total workout time for each day was regarding 1 hour and 40 minutes! That will be scaled down without the instructions, altho I think it’s always good to get the extra gain of performing the moves tardily and isolating the muscles whenever there’s time. Seriously, for only $11?-What a immense value for the money!

On this dvd:
-Lauren-Hip Hop: This had a very nice groove to it and you may tell that she in truth concentered on making sure that we got a immense cardio workout in her procedure (especially at full speed). It’s fast, it hits, and it’s very fun!
-Travis-Contemporary: I loved this one! Beautiful, flowing movements and stops that if done correctly will give your back, arms, waistline, calves, and abs a great stretch and workout!
-Courtney-Disco: This was so cute! Fairly simple moves strung together into a FAST and exceedingly fun little number. I found this to be an in particular effective on my legs. There’s lots of comedy in this one too, “check you out, check you out!”

The video clip at the top of the screen will give you a nice preview into how the steps are taught and the types of moves you’ll be doing. I’m so excessively affected emotionally to have added this fitness dvd into my collection and hope you’ll take delight in it as much as I did! ***** Difficulty: Intermediate/Challenging (At least a little dance training recommended, if not required).

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
Best Dance Workout Yet!
By Janny B.
The two So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit DVD’s are the best thing to come out since my favored summer TV show started five seasons ago! This one, Cardio Funk, is such a wondrous alter from the same old regular contrived “hip hop” moves in 10-minute segments, or proliferation of oldies music dance tapes. YUCK! I would rate this DVD as intermediate with some impact. If you are not already fit and haven’t done dance workouts before, you will be overwhelmed by the choreography; get started out with Petra Kolber. I consider it an interval workout, taking into account the slowness of the beginning choreography of each dance segment. However, each dance builds in tempo until it is being done at full speed and full impact. Even the 10-minute or so warm up starts very easy and builds up to a cardio tempo. However, I didn’t feel I would have gotten a full workout unless I did the entire tape, which was with regards to 140 minutes long. I ought to say, the time utterly flew by.

Some things you don’t get on an frequent dance exercise tape: the contagious energy and a lively interest from the SOTYCD crew. Also, in truth originative choreography. And don’t think these guys don’t recognise their physiology as well as say, Kathy Smith. They have been training for years, and all around the DVD they point out how to do moves in the right way to stay clear from muscle strain.

Throughout the instructing of each set of choreography (hip-hop with Lauren, disco with Courtney and contemporary with Travis), the moves initially seem mixing up when they are taught one-on-one with the dancer. But they are done again and again, tardily adding more dancers and more or less increasing tempo, then adding the music, and by the end when they are doing it full tempo with music, I totally had it down. I’ve likewise been doing home workout videos for 25 years, mainly dance and kickbox, so again, not for total beginners. At the conclusion, there is a bonus workout, shorter than the other dances, kind of just for kicks, that uses moves from all three workouts.

This workout is a total blast! Not my most unmanageable workout; I have 45 minute kickbox DVD’s that leave me more winded. But none are more fun, and if you do the whole thing, you’ve done a good, core-emphasizing workout. My only complaint is that the choreography of the warm-up of this one is identical to that of the Tone and Groove DVD, and I think universally every one is going to buy both. With all their originative choreography, they could have come up with dissimilar warm-ups. But the rest is so great, I pardon them!

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