for the fitness fanatics…

First of all, if you're a fitness fanatic, you need to be reading our awesome new fitness expert's column . Second of all, I don't know if I've mentioned this on here before, but I'm a Spinning Instructor by morning and editor by day. 🙂 I have an unhealthy (but healthy) obsession with Spinning, so I figured I should take it to the next level and teach classes. So I'm at Fitworks in Newport Tues/Thurs at 6am and Fusion in Ft. Thomas on Saturdays at 9am. Anyway… I always love to give my students interesting and practical information and I was just making up a little informational flier to help them stay healthy during the holidays and I figured I'd share it with you by copy & pasting it into my blog! Enjoy!!
____

DID YOU KNOW?
Muscle is 3 times more efficient at burning calories than fat? A pound of muscle will burn six calories at rest while a pound of fat will burn only 2 calories.

Changing your workout routine will SHOCK your body into burning more calories. People who do the same workout over and over again for weeks or even months at a time are just maintaining their fitness. Without change, your body has no challenge to overcome, and as a result, will not increase fitness.

Heart rate (Zone) training can help you lose weight and become more fit. Using a heart rate monitor to track your fitness is one of the best ways to train and can help you lose weight by challenging your heart to work harder and smarter.

Muscle also helps maintain bone density, structural balance, and overall nutrition throughout your entire body. Human beings store nutrients in muscle tissue, so it's important to maintain as much lean muscle tissue as possible.

If you want to lose weight, stop eating at least 2 hours before bed. It's tough for your body to burn calories when it is inactive.

A Spinning class will burn 500-700 calories.
A Rowing class will burn 400-600 calories.
A 45 minute workout on the Summit Trainer will burn 400-600 calories.

FOOD
Hey! If you want to lose weight, and you feel like you are exercising during every spare moment without results, there's only one culprit left – it's probably your food and/or beverage consumption and the timing of both. Try flip-flopping the bulk of your calories so that by 5 or 6 pm, you are on the calorie "down-low." In other words eat a BIG breakfast, a reasonable, nutritious lunch, and a light dinner, and don't eat at least two hours before bed.

BMR
Your Basal Metabolic Rate is the number that helps you determine how many calories you need per day for survival. That's BEFORE working out. Your personal BMR is the minimum number of calories your body needs to sustain life at rest. Once you know and understand this number, you can design a true fitness program that incorporates exercise and nutrition.