When it comes to health and fitness each decade has its own claim to fame. Crossfit, P90x, Zumba, spinning and yoga claimed the 2000s. The Atkins Diet, Soloflex, Tae bo and the release of fitness DVDs claimed the 90s (raise your hand if you still have one or two tapes in your arsenal). And when it comes to the 80s it was almost more about the style than the actual exercises.

Side ponies, bright pastel spandex and scrunchy socks reigned supreme. And so did trampoline workouts, Suzanne Somers and Jane Fonda, who released her first workout video in 1982 titled “Jane Fonda’s Workout.” The video was so well received it sold more than 1 million copies! That’s a lot of workout tapes and spandex, even for the 80s.

Though we have a few 90s-born babies in our office, the majority of our staff was born in the 1980s, meaning we have a personal fondness for fitness from that era (myself included). So this week’s Saturday Morning Drill channels that decade with workout moves that require no equipment and tone your whole body. The best part? It’s an absolute blast. So get on your tightest neon spandex, fashion your hair in a side pony and let’s get started!

One of the best ways to lose fat is with some type of cardiovascular activity. The goal is to increase your heart rate in order to throw your body into fat burning mode. But the question is, which type of cardiovascular exercise is right for you?

It’s pretty common for the average American to only think of running as far and as long as they can when the word ‘cardio’ is mentioned. We tend to think that’s the only way to make an impact on the goals we’re trying to achieve.

The truth is, there are many different types of cardio that are either forgotten about or just plain ignored that can actually be extremely beneficial for our health. Try incorporating some of these workouts into your regular routine and note if you see any differences. Changing things up now and again is a great way to get out of plateau stage.

Walking on Incline
While on a treadmill, try adding at least a 5 percent incline. The benefits of walking upwards are tenfold over walking on a flat surface. For starters, it burns almost twice as many calories – walking flat for 30 minutes will burn around 145 calories; but if you raise the incline by only 5 percent, you can burn close to 243 calories.

Read Full Post >

We’re now well into the Olympic Games and the excitement has officially set in. Watching American athletes compete so passionately inspires us to want to get out there and hit the pavement, dunk the ball, and stick that landing, too. And today? We want to get down and dirty on the road, cycling style.

To really channel our inner cyclists, we’ve summoned the help of the American Council on Exercise (ACE) for a seriously intense interval workout that you can do at home on a stationary bike, or on the road with a road or mountain bike.

Developed by ACE’s director of professional education, Anthony Wall, this roughly 1-hour workout is sure to blast calories and get your heart rate up quick with a series of challenging intervals.

One hour of cycling can burn between 400-700 calories. But if you don’t have a full hour to devote, simply scale back and shorten your interval times or the length of your warm-up and cool-down.

To measure your level of exertion during the workout, determine your rate of perceived effort of RPE before starting by using a simple 1-5 scale – one being easy and five being difficult. Once you have that scale in mind, it’s time to get started.
Read Full Post >

Recently, our DietsInReview team had a big brainstorming meeting to drum up some new and inspiring ideas for the site. My idea? To start a “Motivational Mondays” series to get readers excited about the week ahead.

Motivational Mondays will ideally feature ideas submitted by readers, and can be as simple as a two-sentence line about what motivates you most. This motivation can come from a phrase, quote, or an inspirational figure in your life that plants the desire to do better than the status quo.

Since I came up with the idea of this series, I thought it was appropriate to write about two individuals who motivate me.

My grandmother is my biggest inspiration to achieve nothing but greatness for myself. My grandparents sacrificed their lives to come to America during the Vietnam War. Growing up, she would give me words of wisdom when it came to school, relationships and life, and I just loved how she could gather her children in a room and there would be no bickering or arguing – just love.
Read Full Post >

A video of Justin Bieber and Mike Tyson boxing is creating quite a buzz around the Web. And it has us wondering what exactly the young singer’s fitness routine is.

Rumors have circulated that as the teen star matures in his career, he seeks out new role models such as Tyson and fellow pop star Usher. With these new friendships come new activities, such as boxing sessions as Tyson’s personal gym.

This seems to fit Bieber’s personality as fitness has always been a part of his life despite a busy schedule. The singer has managed to stay in tip-top shape by making time for his workouts even though the past few years have been a whirlwind of concerts, video shoots, and countless TV appearances promoting his music.

After releasing his first album, Bieber went straight to performing his hits around the world, and was on and off tour for about a year. Globetrotting is just a part of Justin’s life and he has had to make adjustments to accommodate his hectic lifestyle. In order to do so, the star hired personal trainer Dolvett Quince to keep him in shape for his most recent tour; Quince is now a trainer on The Biggest Loser.
Read Full Post >