EllipticalHome.com Blog

December 2006 Holiday Issue:

1. Introduction
2. Blog Facelift
3. Special Holiday Gift!
4. Looking Forward to 2007

Welcome to the December Holiday issue of the
EllipticalHome.com Fitness Newsletter.

I got busy with a few other things last month and missed
sending out the November newsletter. I hope those of you in
the US and Canada had a great Thanksgiving. This is the
time of year where temptations of the edible variety
abound. My approach is to go with the flow and not fight it
too hard.

I think the best way to balance the extra calories is to
keep up with your exercise program. Of course that’s hard
to do with the increased demands during the holiday season.
There are gifts to buys and parties to attend and for many
of us, it’s also the end of the work year and we may have
to work extra hours to meet business commitments.

That’s why it’s even more important to try extra hard to
not miss workouts. You don’t want to dig yourself too big
of a fitness hole that you will have trouble climbing out
of at the start of the New Year.

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The EllipticalHome.com Blog Gets a Facelift
————————————————————————————————-
Dr. Guido W. Stiehle of EasyWebTutorials.com created some
custom templates for the blog that give it the same look as
the main EllipticalHome.com site. They look great and are a
big improvement over the boring old WordPress template that
I was using. Many thanks Dr. Guido!

I’m archiving back issues of the newsletter on the blog and
will be posting shorter blog posts more often (my
resolution for 2007!). I will also begin posting the
newsletters directly to the blog and just sending out a
very short email to let you know when the monthly
newsletter is online.

Have a look at the blog’s new look here:

http://ellipticalhome.com/blog/

————————————————————————————————–
A Special Holiday Gift For You!
————————————————————————————————–
Blake Bissaillion of http://tinyurl.com/2sfcl6 has put
together a 90-page Weight Training Guide complete with
illustrations of the major weight lifting exercises. Blake
is a weight-training enthusiast from Canada and his site
has loads of great tips for weight lifting and other
fitness-related topics such as nutrition and cardio
training.

Blake’s Weight Training Guide is a terrific complement to
my “Getting Started With Elliptical Training” eBook.

My eBook has a chapter on super-charging your elliptical
training with weight lifting. Unfortunately, I didn’t have
the space to include illustrations and descriptions of the
weight lifting exercises. So now, with Blake’s guide, that
gap has been filled!

You can download the guide at the link below and you don’t
even need to sign up for Blake’s newsletter – just download
it instantly!

http://tinyurl.com/2sfcl6

Of course, you’ll want to subscribe to Blake’s newsletter.
I’m a subscriber and I eagerly await his newsletters. Being
a weight-training enthusiast myself, Blake definitely
speaks my language!

Subscribe to the Building-Muscle101.com newsletter here:

http://tinyurl.com/3b8yxt

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Looking Forward To 2007
————————————————————————————————-
As we close the book on 2006 it’s a good time to reflect on
what we accomplished over the past year and also plan out
some goals for next year. Regarding fitness goals, I
certainly learned a lot about cardio fitness. I
experimented with HIIT as well as training in the “cardio
zone”. Cardio Zone training has proven to be a winner for
me and I’m going to stick with it during the start of 2007.

Diet and nutrition continues to be a challenge for me and
my number one goal for next year is to get back to basics
and really tighten things up on that front.

Speaking of New Year’s Resolutions, here’s an article, sort
of tongue and cheek, that I wrote at the start of this
year. Have a read when you get a chance:

http://www.ellipticalhome.com/new-years-article.html

Best wishes to you and your loved ones for the holidays
and much success and good health in 2007!

In This Month’s Issue:

1. Tips For Resisting Halloween Temptation
2. Ellipticals in New Zealand
3. What’s in the works?

Welcome to the October issue of the EllipticalHome.com
Fitness Newsletter.

I’m a little late in getting the newsletter out this month,
but hopefully it’s reaching you in time to prevent any
Halloween candy mishaps. I think you know what I mean –
giving in to a bag of miniature Reese’s cups or bag full of
Sweet Tarts and then coming up short when the Trick or
Treaters come ringing your doorbell.

I’ve been there myself. I used to live in a condo complex
where maybe 2 kids would come by asking for candy. Of
course, to make sure I didn’t run out, I’d buy 2 bags of
candy. It was just a coincidence that they happened to be
my favorite chocolate treats.

Then in my disappointment at the paltry turnout, I’d
console myself by enjoying the leftovers for the next week
or so. Many times, I’d begin helping myself the week before
Halloween!

As you can see, it’s all mental. I would use Halloween as
an excuse to indulge my fondness for chocolate. Ordinarily,
I wouldn’t buy candy for myself.

 Here are some strategies for dealing with the temptations
of Halloween:

–Be a Halloween Scrooge and don’t participate. Yes I know
this sounds mean-spirited, but many communities have a
policy of using porch lights to signal participation. Just
keep them off if you don’t want candy in your house.
However, this method only works if you don’t have kids.

–Don’t buy the candy until the day of Halloween. There
will be less opportunity to sneak the tasty morsels for
yourself. And only buy enough to cover the volume of Trick
or Treaters — avoid leftovers!

–If you help yourself to some of the goodies, then take a
page from the Weight Watcher’s manual and treat the
calories as points towards your daily allotment. In
exchange, sacrifice dessert or a snack or two and be extra
sure that you don’t miss any exercise sessions!
Just remember, that the road gets a lot tougher as we head
into Thanksgiving and then the celebrations of the Holiday
season. So stay focused and stay strong!

————————————————————————————————–
“Elliptical Trainers In New Zealand”
————————————————————————————————–
I received an inquiry from a reader in New Zealand recently
asking my opinion on an elliptical trainer advertised for
sale on TradeMe.com in NZ. At first I thought it was a
Kettler model from the photo, but saw that it was actually
a “DM-700E”.

 This is a brand that I’m not familiar with, but I did a
little research.

Turns out that “DM” stands for Dingming Fitness, which is a
company in China. Based on the asking price and the
somewhat bold claims in the ad, I got suspicious. I’m not
against Chinese made products, but at the moment, fitness
equipment manufactured in China is not of the highest
quality. Though the elliptical looked compact, it also
looked a bit flimsy and without the protection of a
warranty, I couldn’t recommend that the reader go through
with the purchase.

Sometimes, in a desire to save money on what is a fairly
big investment, we get tempted by fitness equipment that
looks good and also carries a cheap price tag. However,
ellipticals in this class seldom prove to be good
investments. I continue to believe that you can get a
quality elliptical trainer for home use between $1200 -
$2000.

I’m sure the major brands of ellipticals from ICON Health &
Fitness, such as ProForm, NordicTrack, Weslo, etc. are
readily sold throughout the word, including NZ and
Australia. Unfortunately, these are American imports that
don’t make the US very proud.

Perhaps readers in NZ and Australia could let me know what
brands are available your region and what your experience
and opinions are about them.

One option is the Mercantila Superstore. They carry a very
large selection of elliptical trainers from quality
manufacturers such as Precor, Life Fitness, Sole,
Bodycraft, and many others. Their prices are also quite
competitive and they will ship ellipticals to just about
anywhere in the world.

You will need to call them and get information on shipping
charges and you will also need to pay any custom fees, but
with the discounted prices your net cost may still be lower
than from other distributors for ellipticals that you
cannot find locally.

Their elliptical pages are also loaded with specifications
and detailed photos:

http://tinyurl.com/347e5j
 
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What’s in the works?
————————————————————————————————–
It’s been a while since I’ve posted new elliptical trainer
reviews to the site, but that’s about to change. I’ve been
trying out a different elliptical trainer at the gym from a
well-known manufacturer and have found it to be a nice
complement to my high-intensity training. But, I didn’t
think much of it when I first tried it. I’ll have the full
report out soon. I’m working on reviews for some very
affordable home ellipticals that I’m getting good feedback
on.

As I pay more attention to my overall health beyond just
keeping my weight down I’ve found some valuable resources
concerning blood pressure and cholesterol. I’ll let you
know about my progress with these methods after I give them
a fair tryout.

That’s it for this month’s newsletter. Happy Halloween and
save the candy for the Trick or Treaters!

 
————————————————————————————————-
Nutritional Tip: “Easy Ways To Get Extra Protein”
————————————————————————————————-
Protein is an essential nutrient in anyone’s diet. It’s the
source for amino acids that are necessary to build muscle
tissue. Lean sources of protein are vital to bodybuilders
looking to pack on muscle mass, but are also important to
the rest of us who exercise hard and wouldn’t mind a bit of
muscle tone.

However, there are only so many dry chicken breasts you can
eat. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get additional
protein in a quick and easy way? I’m going to tell you
about 2 great methods that I use personally.

The first is hard-boiled egg whites. I love eggs and
they’re also packed with protein – about 6.5 grams for a
whole egg and 3.6 grams for the white. The while has very
little fat compared to the yolk and this is the part we
should consume. I boil up a dozen eggs at the start of the
week and discard the yolks after they’ve cooled. I know it
sounds like a waste, but I don’t need the extra fat and
cholesterol in my diet. I then put them in a plastic
container and keep them in the fridge. I’ll take 2 or 3
whites with me to work as a snack. They’re tasty and
provide the extra protein I need during the afternoon.

An even easier way to get some extra protein is by using
protein powders. Just mix with juice, water, or milk and
you’ve got protein-packed boost. There are various types of
protein powders, but the one I prefer in whey protein.

Welcome to the September issue of the EllipticalHome.com
Fitness Newsletter.

Depending on what side of the equator you’re on — happy
fall or happy spring! In my part of the world the weather
has turned a bit cooler and the leaves are just beginning
to change color.

————————————————————————————————-
“A Time to Rededicate and Re-energize”
————————————————————————————————-
This is a time of year that life seems ripe with
possibilities. For students, it’s the start of a new school
year and for others it’s time to bear down harder at our
professions and finish the year strong.

It’s also a good time to approach your workouts with
renewed energy and enthusiasm. The cooler weather
definitely makes exercising more pleasant. This is also a
great time to get up a head of steam as we approach the
holiday season. The vast majority of us put on extra pounds
between Halloween and New Year’s Day.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could get into our best shape as
we enter the holiday season and then weather the storm of
all those extra calories when it’s upon us? Think of it
like when you’re riding a bike up and down hills.

The period right now is when you’re going down a big hill.
You want to pedal as fast as you can so you build up enough
momentum to carry you to the top of the big hill that’s
coming up.

This way you can dip into the Halloween candy bowl, eat a
hearty Thanksgiving meal, and sample some of the joy during
the holiday season. Of course I’m not advocating that you
go nuts and throw all of your healthy eating habits away.

Quite the opposite, my approach to exercise and diet is to
basically stay on a straight and narrow course of healthy
eating and regular exercise.

However, you should allow yourself an occasionally treat
now and then or even miss a workout if you’re feeling
tired, but always strive to get back on track as soon as
possible. This approach works out much better than an
extreme approach based around denial and a strict regimen.

In the long run, the person who does his/her best to stay on
track even though straying from time to time is much better
off than the person who goes extremely hard for a while and
then gives up because of physical and mental burnout.

Starting in next month’s (October) newsletter I’ll be
providing tips and moral support for navigating the
temptations of the holiday season. We can get through this
trying time together!

It’s also not too early to start thinking about those New
Year’s fitness resolutions. Here’s an article to get you
inspired with those “resolutions”:

http://www.ellipticalhome.com/new-years-article.html

————————————————————
Featured Article: A Fitness Update:
————————————————————
The featured article in this month’s newsletter isn’t
really an article, but an update on my progress with the
changes I’ve made to my elliptical trainer workouts. As you
may recall from previous newsletters, I was experimenting
with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on the
elliptical trainer. You can read that article here if you
missed it:

http://www.ellipticalhome.com/elliptical-hiit-training.html

To recap, I adopted this approach in order to deal with
limited time to workout during my lunch hour. I saw some
benefit from HIIT in that I dropped about 2 lbs and was
getting my target heart rate up. Certainly not huge gains,
but then not too bad for a 13 minute elliptical trainer
session.

The downside is that I was left fairly drained afterwards
and didn’t have much left for my weight training sessions
even though they were also very abbreviated.

In last month’s newsletter I wrote about switching to
training within my cardio zone rather than fat burning
zone. Well, I’ve been doing this workout for a little over
4 weeks and I’m very pleased with the results thus far.

The biggest difference is that I don’t feel nearly as
drained after my elliptical sessions. I now have plenty of
energy to hit the weights immediately afterwards. I no
longer feel like I have to drag myself through my workouts.

After all, I work out because I enjoy it!

The best feedback I received was when I paid a visit to my
doctor this week. The nurse, as part of the check in
ritual, took my weight and blood pressure.

First she did a double take when she measured my weight.
She said she couldn’t believe I weighed as much as I did when
I “looked so thin”. I think the combination of cardio and weight
training is starting to pay off.

Next she took my blood pressure and to be honest I was
expecting the worst. My BP has always been elevated and in
recent months it’s been as high as it’s ever been. I have
been making other adjustments to try and bring it down
since I really want to avoid having to take medication to
lower it. I want to avoid the side effects.

Anyway, she said “very good — it’s normal!” I could hardly
believe it. I know it’s just one reading and I will need to
stay on top of it since elevated BP is not something to
take likely, but again, I have to wonder if my recent
changes have had an impact.

The jury is still out on the benefits of this cardio zone
approach, but so far I’m encouraged enough to stick with it
and see how much further it takes me.

The real test is next month when I go in for a complete
physical and also have my cholesterol checked. Now that one
has me really worried!

Enjoy your spring or fall and I’ll probably be checking in
with an update or two before the next newsletter.

Welcome to the August issue of the
EllipticalHome.com Fitness Newsletter.

It’s still pretty hot here in the
Washington, DC area as we settle into the “Dog Days” of
August. This is the time of summer when most people clear
out of town and either head for the beach or if you’re a
Congressperson, you go back to your home state where
hopefully it’s a lot cooler. The upside is that DC is a bit
less crowded for the locals.

The featured article in this month’s
newsletter is on determining your target heart rate. It
seems the method we’ve been using may be “worthless”.
There’s also a featured exercise for putting a serious burn
on your abs and a “cool” summer recipe.

————————————————————————————————-
Featured Article: “Target Heart Rate: Worthless?”
————————————————————————————————-
A few weeks ago before the current heat wave put this area
in its grip, I got together with a few of my co-workers to
play tennis one evening after work. I really love to play
tennis even though I’ve never progressed beyond the
intermediate “hacker” level.

I do have a few brief flashes of what
appears to be a game, but that’s usually overshadowed by a
host of botched shots, which I like to refer to as
“unforced errors.”

The temperature was in the low 80s and the
average age of my colleagues is around 30. At 49, I’m the
senior citizen in the group, but I felt I could hang with
them. I’m not sure if it was the heat or being out of
condition, but after about 20 minutes I had to excuse
myself and take a breather. I really didn’t feel very good
and I didn’t want to take any chances, but after a 5-minute
rest I caught my second wind and played for another hour
and a half.

I felt somewhat embarrassed because my
co-workers know how fanatical I am about running off to the
gym at lunchtime to workout. It also hit home that maybe
I’m not in very good cardio-vascular shape. It really made
me rethink my training regimen.

My first thought was maybe all this
emphasis on staying in the “fat-burning” heart rate zone
was really just a false sense of complacency. Maybe what I
really needed to be doing was getting my heart rate up much
higher and working on improving my cardio conditioning. At
least this would be the best way to improve my stamina on
the tennis court.

The other harsh reality is that all this
so-called “fat burning” training wasn’t really burning very
much fat. As I mentioned in last month’s newsletter, I’ve
been trying out a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
routine. I have been seeing some promising results in my
conditioning since I’ve been on it and this routine has
gotten my heart rate up during my sessions on the
elliptical.

Coincidentally, I recently came across an
article that discussed a book entitled “The Heart Rate
Monitor Guidebook” by Sally Edwards. She states, “The ‘220
minus your age’ formula is worthless.” She advises that you
determine your maximum heart by using the “Sub-Max Step
Test”.

This simple test is performed by stepping
up and down on an 8-inch step for 3 minutes without pausing
and then taking your heart rate during the third minute. I
just did this test today at the gym. I used one of those
step aerobic platforms, which works great by the way.

Once you have your heart rate, she then
advises that you add an “estimate factor” to it based on
your fitness level:

Poor shape = 55
Average shape = 65
Excellent shape = 75

You then take 70% – 80% of this number to
get your fat-burning target heart rate.

My results from the step test were:

144 bpm at the end of 3 minutes
144 + 65 (assume average shape) = 209 bpm
.70 * 209 = 146 bpm (target fat-burning heart rate)

80% would be 167 bpm, which quite frankly I
think would kill me. She advises not to go over 90%. Don’t
worry Sally, there’s no chance of that happening!

Please be very careful when performing this test as well as
calculating your sub-max heart rate. As you can see, this
number will most likely be substantially higher than the
old method:

200 – 49 = 171 bpm
.70 * 171 = 120 bpm

What it looks like to me is that this
sub-max method actually puts your fat-burning heart rate
closer to your cardio-conditioning heart rate derived with
the old method. This seems to make sense to me. Highly
conditioned athletes in sports such as basketball usually
aren’t carry around a lot of body fat!

I’m going to take my own advice and work up
slowly to my newly calculated target heart rate with my
goal to sustain this heart rate for 20 minutes per
elliptical session.

As usual, stay tuned for progress
reports!

————————————————————————————————–
Featured Newsletter: 50-Second Fitness Quick Fix Video-zine
————————————————————————————————–
From time to time I’d like to tell you about other quality
fitness newsletters that I feel are worth subscribing to.
This newsletter from personal trainer Kevin Gianni has a
unique twist:

Check out the revolutionary 50-Second
Fitness Quick Fix Video-zine-the only email-video fitness
newsletter that gives you the skinny on everything health
and fitness related in quick, easy to digest (and healthy,
I might
add!) bites!

Founder, Kevin Gianni, is a personal
trainer on a mission to de-mystify the fitness and health
industry and show you just how easy it is to be in great
shape. His newsletter has been featured in Today’s Diet and
Nutrition and
My Family Doctor Magazines.

Check it out using the link below and get a
free report called “The 16 Tips toLooking and Feeling
Better Than You Have in Years!”

http://tinyurl.com/2zy4gb

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Featured Recipe: “Cool Cucumber Salad”
————————————————————————————————-
My wife and I love to plant a vegetable garden every summer
and we always plant cucumbers. As I’m sure you know, there
are only so many cucumbers you can eat before that bloated
feeling sets in. There are also not too many recipes for
them either.

We like to enjoy them in thin slices with a
marinade. The great thing about this method is you can make
up a large batch and keep it covered in the fridge for a
few days and serve it as a starter for lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

1 medium size cucumber
½ cup white vinegar
¼ cup water
½ onion coarsely chopped
Oregano to taste
Black pepper
Salt
1 tsp sugar or ½ tsp artificial sweetener

Peel the cucumber and slice very thin.
Place into a deep bowl and lightly salt. Pour in vinegar
and water and stir in either sugar or sweetener. This will
cut some of the bitterness of the vinegar. Add in the
chopped onions, season with black pepper and oregano. Stir
thoroughly and place into fridge with a cover. It’s best
chilled. Server in small salad bowls with plenty of
marinate for the cucumber slices to float around in. Don’t
let all the vinegar throw you off, when all of the
ingredients combine it’s a very tasty and refreshing
summertime treat!

Enjoy what’s left of the summer and happy
training!

Welcome to the July issue of the
EllipticalHome.com Fitness Newsletter.

Hope your summer is turning out to be an
enjoyable one. We got drenched by almost 2 weeks of
non-stop rain here in the Washington, DC area a few weeks
ago, but it’s finally turned hot and humid like we’re used
to this time of year.

This week marks the one year anniversary of
EllipticalHome.com going live. This newsletter came along
several months later, but I thought this would be a good
enough reason to give you a gift.

I’ve compiled the 4-day mini course
“Getting Started With Elliptical Training” into an eBook. I
also cleaned up a few of the typos that I came across.
Right click on the link below and choose “Save Target As”
to save it directly to your hard drive.

[You'll need to subscribe to the newsletter to get this]

In this newsletter I want to talk about my
experiment with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
using the elliptical trainer. There’s also a review of
“Flatten Your Abs: Abdominal Slimming Manual” by David
Grisaffi and a tasty recipe to try out on your grill this
summer.

So let’s get started!

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Featured Article: “HIIT Using An Elliptical Trainer”
————————————————————————————————-
As I’ve mentioned in past issues, my focus since I first
began exercising on a regular basis back in high school has
been on weight training with an emphasis towards
bodybuilding. Cardio has been secondary for me until the
past year.

The problem has been time management since
I exercise during my lunch hour 5 days a week. You can read
the full article about how my new routine deals with this
problem:

www.ellipticalhome.com/elliptical-hiit-training.html

————————————————————————————————–
Featured Review: ““Flatten Your Abs: Abdominal Slimming
Manual”
by David Grisaffi
————————————————————————————————–
There’s a lot of buzz these days about “core training”. You
may notice people at your health club using stability balls
in rather unique ways or even trying to balance on a BOSU
(“both sides up”) ball while doing dumbbell biceps curls. A
lot of this has to do with training the core muscles.

I became aware of core training only
recently and that’s thanks to David Grisaffi and his
“Flatten Your Abs: Abdominal Slimming Manual”. Though not
as comprehensive a work as Tom Venuto’s BFFM book, David’s
eBook covers a lot of ground when it comes to cultivating a
decent set of abs.

David busts a lot of myths about ab
training and what it really takes to get a six-pack. But
the real gold mine in this book is the wealth of abdominal
exercises he details. There are plenty of photos to
illustrate how to perform the exercises and what’s really
nice is that he breaks the exercise programs into
difficulty levels.

The section on core training was a real
eye-opener for me. If you’re like me, and always thought
that ab training was just leg lifts and crunches, then
you’re in for a big surprise!

There are muscles underneath the showy
“six-pack” muscles that are actually more important towards
tightening your mid-section. Strengthening these core
muscles will also do wonders for your lower back. Learning
just a few of the many exercises David covers in the eBook
will change how you look at ab training forever.

In fact, there’s one exercise that looks
like you’re just lying on the floor not doing anything, but
after just 10 reps it feels like there’s a fire deep under
your mid-section!

The organization of the book is a little
backwards – after a question and answer format in the
introduction, the book launches right into the exercises.
Actually, more of the introductory material is in the later
chapters, but besides this minor complaint, David’s Ab
Training Manual is a very complete treatment on the
subject.

Combine this manual along with Tom Venuto’s
“Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle” and you have a complete
compendium of information on getting lean and fit.

www.ellipticalhome.com/resources/flatten-your-abs.html
www.ellipticalhome.com/resources/burn-the-fat.html

————————————————————————————————-
Featured Recipe: “Salmon Kabobs”
————————————————————————————————-
Summer is grill time and in addition to grilling the usual
burgers and hotdogs or even chicken many people also
through a piece of healthy fish on the grill. Fish steaks
such as salmon, tuna, mahi-mahi, or shark taste great done
on the grill. You can even grill thicker filets of fish
too.

Kabobs are another great meal for grilling.
Instead of beef or chicken kabobs why not try them with
fish?

Salmon works great for kabobs. Cube some
salmon pieces from a thick filet and then just interleave
them on a skewer with green pepper and onion slices. Jab a
cherry tomato on the end. Season the salmon with a bit of
grill seasonings and lightly coat the kabob with canola oil
or vegetable spray so it won’t stick to the grill.

Then grill being sure to turn the skewer so
the fish cooks on all sides. Server over rice or if you’re
on a low-carb diet replace the rice with a steamed veggie
like broccoli. It’s a great summer time meal that’s a
healthy change from burgers and hotdogs!

That’s it for another edition of the
newsletter. And by the way, please forward a copy of this
newsletter to anyone else that you think would benefit from
it and let them know they can become a regular subscriber
by filling out the form on the homepage:

www.ellipticalhome.com

Enjoy your summer and keep up with your
training!

Welcome to the June issue of the EllipticalHome.com Fitness
Newsletter

Now that summer has officially started I felt it was time
to freshen up the site a bit. In an effort to try and stay
current I’ve launched the “EllipticalHome.com Blog”.
Actually, at the moment it’s primary purpose is a place to
archive issues of this newsletter and newsletter updates.

It’s also a good way to check for issues of the newsletter
that you may have missed if the Spam filter ate the email.

I’m still figuring out the basics of WordPress and blogging
in general, so if you have any tips for me please send them
along. Also feel free to leave comments on the blog when
you get a chance. It’s always nice to meet fellow fitness
enthusiasts and to exchange thoughts on health and fitness.

————————————————————————————————–
New Elliptical Trainer Review for June – Bodycraft ECT-2500
————————————————————————————————–
I recently added a review of the Bodycraft ECT-2500
elliptical trainer to the site. This is a rugged home
elliptical that has a 61 lb drive system with an eddy
current brake. What’s even nicer is that the Mercantila
Superstore currently has it marked down from $1499.99 to
$1299.00. You can read the full review here:

www.ellipticalhome.com/bodycraft-ect-2500.html

————————————————————————————————–
Featured Article: “The Knock Against Elliptical Trainers”
————————————————————————————————–
One thing I’ve noticed quite a bit is that many people who
consider using an elliptical trainer often ask if they
really work. Of course, asking if they really work is
rather vague, but I’ll assume that what they’re really
asking is can an elliptical trainer help them to lose
weight and get in shape.

Now if you’ve used an elliptical trainer for any length of
time as part of your regular fitness routine, then you
probably know the answer:

Yes, of course they work!

Sorry for getting agitated, but c’mon, already! Now like
any thing else, when it comes to fitness, you need to be
consistent and you also need put forth some effort.

The consistency part is kind of obvious and of course it’s
also probably the biggest stumbling block for many people.
That’s what I emphasize in my 4-Day mini-course on getting
started with elliptical training – in order to keep at it
you really should start out slowly and gradually work your
way up to more challenging workouts.

Unfortunately, this is where a lot of people also get
tripped up. They get complacent and forget about pushing
themselves gradually over time.

It’s all too easy to get lulled into a lazy groove by the
smooth motion of an elliptical trainer.

Heck, it almost seems effortless and you don’t even break a
sweat. This is fine when first starting out and you’ve been
inactive for a while, but at some point you need to start
cranking up the intensity. Otherwise, your progress in
losing weight and also improving your cardio-vascular
fitness will come to a screeching halt!

Now one of the knocks against elliptical trainers is that
they make it too easy to allow momentum to take over thus
reducing the effectiveness of the exercise. This is true
and is something everyone who uses an elliptical trainer
should constantly be aware of.

The good news is that it’s quite easy to prevent this from
happening by monitoring your heart rate while using an
elliptical trainer.

I won’t get into the merits of the various heart rate
monitors and their accuracy in this article, but let’
assume that you’re using an accurate one. Now all you need
to do is make sure you still within your target heart rate
zone, either fat burning or cardio, during the duration of
your workout.

If you find it more difficult to get to and maintain your
target heart rate, then it’s probably time to increase the
intensity of your elliptical trainer workouts.

This can be accomplished in a number of ways:

–Increase the resistance
–Increase the incline (if your elliptical is so equipped)
–Increase your pace (RPM)
–Do all three

You can also utilize the built-in programs on your
elliptical trainer to increase intensity. Of course, if you
feel dizzy or otherwise uncomfortable then stop
immediately! Though it’s important to progressively
increase the intensity of your workouts, you need to use
caution so as not to stress your body beyond what it can
safely tolerate.

If you’ve been stuck in your training progress maybe it’s
time to start kicking things up a notch in your workouts.
In a future newsletter I’ll tell you about a technique I’ve
been using to increase the intensity in my elliptical
trainer workouts by actually shortening them!

That’s all for this issue. I’ll be adding more elliptical
trainer reviews to the site as the summer progresses as
well as writing some new articles.

Welcome to the May issue of the EllipticalHome.com Fitness
Newsletter!

I’ve got a few things I’m excited about sharing with you. As
promised, the Featured Article this month will discuss how to
make your own elliptical trainer covers. There’s also an
exercise motivation tip to round things out.

So without any further delay, let’s get right to it!

————————————————————————————————–
Exercise Motivation Tip: “Taking a Break From Working Out”
————————————————————————————————–
I know there are times when I’m not really excited about rushing
over to the gym during my lunch hour to workout. Things may be
crazy at work, I’m feeling tired, or it’s cold and rainy
outside, but most times I suck it up and go despite the
temptation to blow off my workout.

And you know what? Just about every time I feel a whole lot
better once I’m done. Most times I start feeling better right
after I’ve put on my workout clothes and I’m heading for the
cardio room. I’m sure you’ve experienced this too.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of changing your surroundings and
getting the environmental cues that put you in the right frame
of mind.

But there are times when both my mind and my body refuse to get
up for a workout. It’s these signals that indicate it may be
time for a short vacation from exercising.

There’s a condition know as “over training” in the bodybuilding
world. It’s when both your mind and your body have reached a
point of burnout from a prolonged period of intensive training.
If allowed to persist, a bodybuilder can go from an anabolic
state (building muscle) to a catabolic state (losing muscle). As
you can imagine this is very counter productive.

So what can you do to prevent getting into an over trained
state?

For starters, plan on taking a week off from your usual training
regimen every 3 months or so. You can use this break to pursue
other physical activities like playing tennis or going on a
hike. You don’t need to be completely inactive. Just take a
break from your usual routine.

The important thing is learning how to listen to your mind and
your body.

If you find yourself dragging through your workouts and not
feeling better afterwards, then this is probably a sign that you
need some time off. A week should be enough in most cases, but
take more time if you need it. Then when you get back to your
regular routine, you’ll find that you have a renewed enthusiasm
and energy for your workouts.
 
——————————————————————————-
Featured Article: “Making Your Own Elliptical Trainer Covers”
——————————————————————————-
I wrote an article a while back about protecting the things you
really care about as an owner of an elliptical trainer. You can
read it here:

http://www.ellipticalhome.com/elliptical-safety-article.html

These things that need protecting in order of importance are:

1. Your children
2. You home
3. Your elliptical trainer

Obviously, protecting your children is by far the most important
thing a parent is concerned with. In comparison, your home, and
certainly a piece of exercise equipment, are extremely minor
concerns.

The point I was trying to make in the article is that if you
have an elliptical trainer in your home and you have small
children, then an elliptical trainer cover is something you
really should consider investing in. A small child could very
easily get hurt playing on your elliptical trainer. Of course,
the best prevention is to keep your elliptical trainer along
with other exercise equipment in a locked room.

The other benefit of an elliptical trainer cover is to keep dust
and moisture off the elliptical. I also recommend that you make
the small investment in an elliptical trainer mat to protect the
carpet or flooring under the elliptical. This will also help
keep dirt and dust from the floor getting into the drive
mechanism of the elliptical. You can take a look at elliptical
trainer mats here:

http://www.ellipticalhome.com/fitness-shop.html

Finding elliptical trainer covers has proven to be much more
difficult. A while back I did manage to find a website that
advertised elliptical trainer covers, but when I asked for more
information I was told that they had discontinued carrying them.

I wrote to several sporting goods merchants asking about
elliptical trainer covers, but also came up empty. To be honest,
this really makes very little sense to me. It should be clear that
there’s a real need for such covers, but no one seems willing to
satisfy the demand.

In the course of my correspondence with the Director of Internet
Marketing at Smooth Fitness I asked if he knew where to find
covers. The customer communications from Smooth Fitness is top
notch and I’ve always received prompt replies to all of my
inquiries, no matter how small the question. Besides the high
quality of their ellipticals, this is a big reason I’m so fond
of Smooth Fitness:

http://www.ellipticalhome.com/smooth-fitness.html

He wrote back saying that he didn’t know of anyone selling them,
but offered a very clever suggestion for improvising your own.

He suggested using barbeque grill covers or outdoor furniture
covers!

This sounded like a great idea to me, but please be aware that I
haven’t tried this myself. I will offer a word of caution if
you decide to go this route. I have looked at grill covers and
outdoor furniture covers online and checked out the dimensions of
the covers.

My conclusion is that these covers will only fit the smaller
elliptical trainers. They won’t adequately cover a full-sized
commercial grade elliptical. So when shopping for a cover, be
sure to compare the dimensions of your elliptical, L x W x H,
with that of the cover.

You can find the dimensions of some popular ellipticals
on the review pages at EllipticalHome.com:

http://www.ellipticalhome.com

The height of the elliptical trainer may be higher than most
covers available, but if you don’t mind the cover being off the
floor by a few inches in the front, then it may work.

Worst case, if it doesn’t fit right, you can always return the
cover.

In the mean time I will continue to hunt down a source for
“real” elliptical trainer covers and will let you know if I find
anything. If you know of a place to get them, then by all means,
please write to let me know!

That’s all for this issue. Keep on track with your training and
I’ll get back on track with the newsletter updates!

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EllipticalHome.com Fitness Newsletter #3

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Welcome to the April issue of the EllipticalHome.com Fitness
Newsletter!

Spring is in the air and summer isn’t too far off. This is a
great time for rededicating ourselves to our fitness programs and
especially any of those New Year’s resolutions concerning fitness
that may be lagging at this point.

I’ll be sharing some exercise motivation tips with you in upcoming
newsletters, but for now, here’s link to some exercise motivation
tips I compiled a while back:

http://tinyurl.com/jm5nn
 
—————————————————————
Featured Article: “Runners and Elliptical Trainers”
—————————————————————
I have to confess that I’ve never been much of a runner or even a
jogger. I did try running as an exercise routine my first two years
at college. It really was the only form of exercise available to me
at the time besides the occasional pickup game of touch football. I
did enjoy it for a while, but the major problem was I could only run
when the weather was accommodating. I eventually turned my
focus to weight lifting, which I could do year round.

However, there are lots of people who are dedicated runners and
who run every chance they get. Even during the winter months
when breathing cold air makes things very challenging. These folks
really enjoy running and are disappointed when rain and extreme cold
force them indoors for their workouts.

There is a small group of avid runners at the gym I belong too.
They will come into the gym, change clothes and then head right
back outside to run a quick mile or two. They may then do some quick
weight lifting before showering and heading back to work.

It’s clear that they get a lot of enjoyment from being outdoors and
that they like to work on bettering their times and increasing the
distances they run. Some of them even run in short races during the
summer months.

So when they are forced to take their training indoors they
invariably hit the treadmill. But no matter how vigorously they
attack the treadmill, they all complain that it’s just not the
same as the workout they get from running. Their disappointment is
strong and they refuse to ever get on an elliptical trainer for this
reason.

In this regard, I can appreciate their dissatisfaction with any
kind of fitness equipment equaling the experience of running. The
elliptical trainer, though good for fat burning and cardio-vascular
conditioning, does little for improving one’s performance in
running.

Even a treadmill is a weak approximation of distance running. I
think some of it has to do with the psychology of running — being
outdoors, the feeling of moving quickly and having the wind in your
face. They don’t call it the “Runner’s High” for nothing!

—————————————————————-
Diet and Recipe Ideas
—————————————————————-
My new exercise program that’s based around the elliptical trainer
and weight lifting is going very well. I’ve lost about 4 lbs over
the past month and so far have been holding on to whatever muscle
I had. I know losing 1 lb per week doesn’t sound like much to get
excited about, but it’s what’s usually recommended when on a weight
loss program.

Personally, I would prefer the weight loss to be a bit more rapid.

My diet still needs some work and I’ve been rereading “Burn The Fat,
Feed The Muscle” by Tom Venuto. There’s so much great advice and
information in this book that it takes more than just one reading
to absorb it all!

I’m going to take a few of the fat-burning techniques from the book
and begin applying them to my own fat loss program. I’ll probably
focus on Tom’s advice for dealing with carbs since this has always
made the most difference for me when losing fat in the past.

Forget all of the fad diets and false claims about diet pills you’ve
heard about, “Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle” is the best fat loss
advice available anywhere in my opinion.

Check it out:

http://tinyurl.com/hmqsr

————————————————————–
Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe
————————————————————–
This is one of my favorite low-carb dishes. It’s super quick and
easy to prepare and it’s a real taste treat to boot! It’s also a
great warm weather meal if you can grill the chicken outside.

–Ingredients:

1 small boneless, skinless, chicken breast
large bowl of salad greens: lettuce, fresh spinach, shredded
   red cabbage, etc.
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 Tbs chopped onion
low carb salad dressing or make you own:

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
pinch of oregano
fresh ground black pepper

Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper or use a small pinch
of McCormick’s Grill Mates rub. Grill either on an outdoor grill or
a stovetop grill. Make sure the meat is thoroughly cooked throughout.

Slice the chicken breast into strips length-wise and then cut strips
in half. Place chicken strips on top of salad greens. Top with cheese
and chopped onions. Pour salad dressing over it and season with
fresh ground pepper. Toss lightly.

I don’t know the exact nutritional content of this dish, but the
total carbs is well under 20 grams. The bulk of the carbs are coming
from the “good” fibrous kind - salad greens with the remainder from
the cheese and vinegar. And of course, there is plenty of low fat
muscle-building protein from the chicken breast.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the March edition of the EllipticalHome.com fitness
newsletter.

————————————————————————————————-
Introduction:
————————————————————————————————-

As I mentioned in last month’s edition of the newsletter, I’ve
been refining a new workout routine that’s really a big change
for me. During recent years I’ve emphasized weight training over
cardio in my workouts.

In the past, I would do double sessions at the gym - weights
during my lunch hour and then back in right after work for
cardio, which usually was 30 minutes on the Nordic Track skier.
This was before elliptical trainers burst onto the scene.

Recently, I’ve only been able to get into the gym during my
lunch hour. Evenings and weekends are taken up with spending
time with my wife, working on the Website and doing stuff around
the house.

I’ve tried to squeeze in 2 days a week on the elliptical during
lunch, but sometimes this became more like once a week when I had
a meeting and needed to skip the gym. And boy, do I hate missing
workouts!

Instead of trying to gain as much muscle mass as possible, my
focus has shifted to becoming leaner and also healthier. This of
course will mean losing some bodyweight and appearing smaller,
but in the long run, that’s where I feel I need to get to.

My new routine puts the elliptical first everyday in my workout.
I haven’t abandoned weights by any means, but they come last and
involve a much smaller portion of my workouts now.

The total elapsed time of my complete workout is now around 30
minutes. This is by necessity due to work obligations. My goal
is to get my body fat down to around 14% from 19% while retaining
some degree of muscular development.

I’ll give the new routine 3 months to show results before I pass
judgment on it. The diet component, not surprisingly, is much
harder to figure out, but I have some ideas.

Stay tuned…!

————————————————————————————————-
New Elliptical Reviews:
————————————————————————————————-

Smooth Fitness recently introduced 3 new additions to the CE
line to complement the Smooth CE. This has coincided with a
price increase for the CE.

In an effort to provide cheaper models  below the CE they’ve
introduced the CE 2.1 and CE 3.2 and also a  high end commerical
grade model at the top in the CE 7.4.

I’ve added reviews of each of these models to the site. Scroll
down on the main Smooth Fitness page to get to the individual
product review links:

http://www.ellipticalhome.com/smooth-fitness.html

————————————————————————————————–
Featured Article: Octane Ellipticals
————————————————————————————————–

A visitor to the site recently emailed me asking my opinion on
elliptical trainers from Octane. Here’s my reply:

“Regarding Octane ellipticals, I’m  not a big fan of front drive
ellipticals mainly due to the extra complexity of the drive
mechanism and the tendency of it to malfunction as a result. Many
fitness equipment manufacturers have understandably gone the
route of front  drive ellipticals to get around the myriad of
patents that Precor holds.

If you haven’t already, you may want to drop in on Epinions.com
and have a  read. There is one review of the Q45e there where
the reviewer appears to  be very satisfied, but he goes on to
list some quality problems he had to negotiate. 

Reviews of the Q35e are also a bit mixed as far as reliability.
I think if you get lucky, then Octane ellipticals are very smooth
and natural feeling. I just hesitate to fully recommend them due to
their high price tag and questionable reliability.”

Other front-drive ellipticals are those from Schwinn, Horizon,
Iron Man, and New Balance. Most of these models are in the $1000
- $2000 price range and from all appearances, are of high
quality.

As time permits, I will investigate some of these ellipticals and
add complete reviews.

————————————————————————————————–
Wrap Up:
————————————————————————————————–

In the introduction, I mentioned my body fat goal. In an
upcoming newsletter I want to share with you why body fat
percentage is an important measurement.

It’s also a difficult measurement to take and the various
techniques for measuring it can stir up quite a bit of controversy!

I’ll present these measurement techniques and show you the ones that
work best for me.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any one else that
you think might enjoy it. Also if you have any tips of your own,
questions or comments,  please send then them to:

contact[REMOVE]@ellipticalhome.com.

Until the next edition, take care and stay on track with your
training!

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EllipticalHome.com Fitness Newsletter #1

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Welcome to the inaugural issue of the EllipticalHome.com Fitness
Newsletter!

It’s very exciting for me to finally launch the newsletter. I
have a lot of ideas, tips, and news items that I’m eager to
share with you. As a charter subscriber, you will have the
opportunity to influence the direction of both this newsletter
and the EllipticalHome.com Website. Check the bottom of this
newsletter for details.

————————————————————————————————-
Introduction:
————————————————————————————————-

If you’re like me, then you’re probably still recovering from
the excesses of the Holidays. Actually, I wasn’t too bad, but
I’m definitely not as lean as I’d like to be. I know it’s going
to take some work on my part to shed the excess pounds. My
current training focus is still on weight training, but I’m
working on coming up with a revised routine to get more out of
my elliptical training. I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

This all leads up to those New Year’s resolutions we all enjoy
making, but hate keeping. I hope you are sticking to whatever
resolutions you made on Jan. 1. If any of them included fitness,
then you’ll want to read my article “Don’t Be a New Year’s
Resolutioner”. It’s a bit tongue in cheek, but also includes
some helpful ideas for sticking with your health-related
resolutions. You can read the full article here:

http://tinyurl.com/dh3qw
————————————————————————————————–
Featured Article: “Numb Feet on Elliptical”
————————————————————————————————–

The title above is actually a keyword phrase that I’m seeing
searched for on Google several times a day now. I wrote an
article a few months ago entitled: “Elliptical Trainer Sleepy
Foot Syndrome”. You can read the article here:

http://tinyurl.com/8eb8z

The article caused quite a bit of buzz and I was surprised to
find out how many people experience numb feet from using
elliptical trainers. The really interesting thing is the relief
people have once they realize they are not alone in experiencing
this problem.

My very rough and unscientific estimate is that probably %30 of
people who use elliptical trainers experience numb feet at some
point. This number could even be higher based on the discussions
I’ve seen in the on-line forums. I’m a sufferer myself. Like
most others with this problem I thought I was alone. For me,
it’s really not much relief knowing that so many others have the
same problem.

I have been able to ward off the problem by utilizing the
technique of rocking my foot back and forth as described in the
article. However, I’m a little angry with the fitness equipment
manufacturers for ignoring what I consider to be a biomechanical
design flaw in elliptical trainers. I do think that they are
aware of it and are quietly making design changes in newer
models of ellipticals to prevent numb feet.

I’ve updated the article to include the possibility that
elliptical trainers with articulating (pivoting) foot pedals may
help to reduce or eliminate foot numbness. Your ankles are
designed to pivot while walking and running, so it makes sense
that they be allowed to pivot while striding on an elliptical
trainer. This will also help more evenly distribute the stress
on the nerves in your feet, which can help prevent that tingling
sensation.

Smooth Fitness seems to get it and has recently come out with a
new line of CE elliptical models with pivoting foot pedals. The
CE 2.1 and CE 3.2 are the newest addition to the CE line. You
can check them out on the Smooth Fitness site:

http://tinyurl.com/9yoh8

I’ve also received some very helpful tips from visitors to the
site for how they deal with foot numbness on the elliptical. One
suggestion is to alternate forward and backward motion every few
minutes during your workout. This will shift the emphasis from
the ball of your foot (forward direction) to the heel (reverse
direction), thus shifting the force of your body weight along
your feet.

Another suggestion is to use shoe inserts that provide some
cushioning. I really like this idea and I’m going to try it out
once I can locate shoe inserts that look like they can do the
job. The idea with this approach is to take pressure off the
nerves through cushioning.

This is a pretty serious issue and I feel it ultimately needs to
be aggressively addressed by the equipment manufacturers.
However, we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water and
give up on elliptical trainers. There are just too many
advantages to using them. I’ll definitely keep you updated on
what I find out and I hope you will tell me about your
experience and remedies for elliptical numb feet!

————————————————————————————————-
Your Feedback Is Always Welcome!
————————————————————————————————-

As I mentioned in the Introduction, you will have the
opportunity to make suggestions for topics to cover in this
newsletter as well as on the EllipticalHome.com Website. Please
feel free to send me email or you can use the survey form on the
site:

http://tinyurl.com/cytqn

Well, that’s it for the Inaugural Edition of the EH.com
newsletter. I’ve already got several ideas in the works for the
next newsletter and I can’t wait to share them with you!