GetSlimZone.com

by Gene B. Pineda

An elliptical cardio machine is an exercise machine that offers an intense upper body and lower body workout as well as a cardiovascular workout. The combination of upper body and lower body routine exercises is said to increase the reduction of fats and calories in a person. The cardiovascular workout from the elliptical cardio machine is intensive enough to suit most doctors and low impact enough to reduce bone fractures and damage to the tendons, ligaments and joints.

What to Consider when Buying an Elliptical Cardio Machine

In most elliptical cardio machine purchases, the individuals usually buy them for home use. One thing that you should keep in mind when in the market for an elliptical cardio machine is the size of the machine. This will come in handy when contemplating where to put the trainer machine and also if it fits you or not.

Although, most trainer machines are designed to fit the average person, not all buyers of the elliptical cardio machines are average sized persons. Try the machine on for size before buying it to be sure if you are the right size for it. Your knees and elbows should not hit any of the parts of the elliptical cardio machine.

The pedals should also be comfortable for your shoe size and have non-slip textures to avoid your slipping on them as you work out. A person’s weight should also be considered when choosing an elliptical machine. Some machines are too lightweight to have a person over 200 pounds.

Another thing to consider when buying an elliptical cardio machine is the noise that the machine makes as you use it. Some of the elliptical cardio machine models are relatively quiet but some may have an annoying humming sound.

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by Daniel Broderick

Millions of Americans and billions of world citizens look in the mirror every day disparaged by their image. Everyone has tried this fad diet and that exercise regimen to no avail. If you’re one of these many weight conscious citizens, you’re far from alone. But there is still hope. It’s time we kick our fat fighting strategies up a notch. The idea behind losing weight is simple: you need to burn more calories than you take in. One of the easiest and most effective ways of doing this is the speed your metabolism as this will allow you to passively burn more calories. Herein you’ll learn how to speed your metabolism in three simple steps.

Step 1: Eat many small meals per day.

The goal here is 6-8 small meals. This golden bit of information is no secret. The reason this works is simple. If you only eat a few meals a day, your body regularly thinks it’s being starved. If your body feels threatened by starvation, it will store everything you eat as fat so that it has sustenance until the next meal. Don’t starve your body.

Some people might think it’s too difficult to eat 6-8 meals a day with their hectic schedule, but it’s really not. Take a protein shake and a bag of peanuts to work; they each count as a meal.

A meal doesn’t have to be enormous. In fact, all of your meals should be fairly small; anywhere from 150 to 400 calories. This is just enough to provide energy for the next couple hours until you eat again, so it will be less prone to store as fat.

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by Jeremy S. Abrahamson

With hundreds of models and dozens upon dozens of brands, it can be a difficult task to choose the right elliptical trainer for you and your family. The first thing to consider is your budget and with this you can narrow down which elliptical trainer is right for you.

It is not recommended to look for an elliptical trainer for under $800, as anything in a price range lower than that is of such inferior quality that it will not me your, and anyone’s, exercise needs. This article will take a look at what to look for in each of the different price ranges.

Elliptical Trainers for $800-$1500

Finding a trainer in this range that can be a quality piece of workout equipment can be very difficult. Most of the higher quality elliptical trainers will cost in excess of $1500, but there are some really good models in this price range if you know what to look for.

The first feature to consider is step distance. Many trainers in this price range offer a very small step distance. This means a much poorer workout for you. Look to see if you can find a machine with the step distance you require to complete a solid workout.

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A Comparison of Two Popular Diet Plans, Nutrisystem & MediFast

By Michelle Dixon

You may have decided that using a diet meal replacement plan or diet food plan would be the easiest way for you to lose weight. However, there are so many plans available; you may not know which program would work the best for you. In this article I will compare two very popular diet food, meal replacement plans Nutrisystem and MediFast. These diet plans may seem similar, although once you read about each plan, you will find they are very different.

Nutrisystem Overview:

Nutrisystem offers prepackaged, pre-portioned diet meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks. You are advised to add fresh vegetables, fruits, salads to lunch, and dinner meals. The meals are low calorie, yet nutritionally sound with the added fresh fruit and vegetables. The diet meals are based on low glycemic, good carbs, with the right amount of protein and fiber that your body needs for increased fat and calorie burning.

The Nutrisystem program also offers a free weight loss community website where you can get free diet counseling, weight loss tips and community support in your weight loss endeavors.

Nutrisystem advises if you eat their prepackaged diet meals and follow their plan, you can potentially lose 1 to 3 pounds a week.

MediFast Overview:

MediFast offers prepackaged diet meal replacement foods including shakes, soups, bars, pudding, drinks and cereals. Their name basically sums up how their plan works; you are “fasting” most of the day. Their most popular program is the 5 and 1 diet program where you eat 5 MediFast meals a day and 1 low calorie, low fat meal you cook and prepare yourself. Their plan is designed to be calorie deficient (between 800 – 1000 calories a day), thereby allowing your body to use fat for energy.

MediFast also offers a free weight loss community website where you can get diet support, weight loss tips, diet recipes and more.

MediFast advises if you follow their 5 in 1 diet program and use their diet meal replacements you can potentially lose up to 20 pounds in a month.

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I was cruising the liquidation auctions for sporting equipment when I spotted this new weightlifting bench and rack.  It’s new, not salvaged or return, but I didn’t recognize it as a Body Solid or Weider, so I did a quick search and found out it from “Weight Spotter” a company founded by an avid lifter Gary Cormier.

Cool design. If you fail on your final rep, you can set the bar down on the “Weight Spotter” bar in the front.

From the Weightspotter.com website:

The Weight Spotter is always there to help minimize the risk of serious injury. When that ‘ one last rep’ turns out to be ‘one rep too many’ and you can’t get the bar back up on the rack, the Weight Spotter is there. Simply roll the bar forward and the Weight Spotter will do the rest! The bar and weights ride up and away and held safely with our engineered spring-return safety locks freeing you from a potentially dangerous, crushing injury. The exclusive design of the Weight Spotter puts the safety rails close enough without interfering with your workout.

Designed for the most common lifting practices: incline and flat presses, the Weight Spotter Silver Series is designed for Olympic 7 foot bars and weights up to 250 lbs.

This is available NOW at an internet-site home gym auction so you might have to outbid other people, however, if you are the only bidder you will nab this up for $100!

I do not recommend you pay for shipping – this weighs too much to pay freight charges, but if you live near Lawrence, Massachusetts, or New England thereabouts, and have been looking for a new rack and weightlifting bench, check it out. Paying $100 at auction is a good deal considering it costs $299 plus shipping at the official website of weightspotter.com.

This unit is available through the weekend at Liquidation.com. The auction closes 17 July 2010. This could be a one-off auction, but it is usual for companies to sell a lot more units in up-coming auctions.  You can sign up for free at liquidation.com and get free emails alerting you to home gym equipment, treadmills, stationary bikes, resistance bands, and a lot of other stuff.

The Best Mix and Match System Ever

by Andrew Cheyne

Interval fitness training is by far the best workout you can do for your body. It combines strength and cardio into one intense action packed workout. But one thing you may not think about is the ability to mix and match through interval fitness training.

Just think about it, interval fitness training is nothing more then a bunch of exercises thrown together in 30 second to 1-minute stretches. After a couple exercises are complete you simply let your body catch up and repeat the session.

For that reason you can actually mix and match a bunch of exercises together. Think about it, make a list of exercises that you like, now make a list of exercises that are challenging to you. This works best if you have at least 10 in each list.

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