Fitness For Dummies

The latest and greatest in getting fit and staying that way! Fitness For Dummies, 4th Edition, provides the latest information and advice for properly shaping, conditioning, and strengthening your body to enhance overall fitness and health. With the help of fitness professionals Suzanne Schlosberg and Liz Neporent, you'll learn to set and achieve realistic fitness goals without expensive fitness club fees!

• Achieve motivation and social support from social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook
• Take advantage of digital resources such as e-exercising programs, video instructors, digital training systems, apps, and more
• Gives you the latest tips and methods to test your own fitness level, set realistic goals, stick with your program, and get great results
• Shows you how to spot where fat is sneaking into your diet
• Get the most out of high-tech exercise machines and equipment, plus tips for using dumbbells or a simple jump rope to achieve results

• Offers step-by-step instructions on creating a home gym on a budget
  Featuring all-new informative fitness photos and illustrations, this revised edition of Fitness For Dummies is all you need to get on track to a healthy new body!

Auteur

Suzanne Schlosberg is a fitness writer whose work has appeared in Shape, Health, Fit Pregnancy, Ladies' Home Journal, and other magazines. Liz Neporent is a health and fitness expert and correspondent for ABC National News. She is a frequent contributor to Shape, Self, and Fitness magazines.

Contenu

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Conventions Used in This Book 2

What You're Not to Read 3

Foolish Assumptions 3

How This Book is Organized 3

Part I: Getting Your Butt off the Couch 4

Part II: Going Cardio 4

Part III: Building Muscle and Strengthening Bone 4

Part IV: Limbering Up with Flexibility, Balance, and Mind-Body Exercise 5

Part V: Getting Fit in Health Clubs and Home Gyms 5

Part VI: Exercising for All Ages and Stages 5

Part VII: The Part of Tens 6

Icons Used in This Book 6

Where to Go from Here 7

Part I: Getting Your Butt off the Couch 9

Chapter 1: Establishing Your Plan of Attack 11

Understanding What Fitness Means 11

Setting Goals and Tracking Your Progress 13

Assessing your current fitness level (yes, this class has tests) 13

Setting multiple goals and rewards 13

Putting it in writing 15

Selecting Exercises That Are Right for You 17

Staying Motivated to Make Exercise a Habit 17

Getting inspiration from others 18

Training for an event 19

Keeping it interesting 19

Dressing the part 19

Staying realistic 20

Chapter 2: Testing Your Fitness 21

Reviewing Your Health History 21

Talking to a tester at the gym 22

Assessing your health history yourself 22

Vital Signs: Following Your Heart 23

Determining your resting heart rate 23

Knowing your blood pressure 24

Discovering how fit your heart is 25

Estimating Your Body-Fat Percentage 26

Getting the lowdown on fat measurements 26

Measuring body fat 27

Measuring Your Strength 31

Measuring your upper-body strength 32

Testing your core strength 33

Measuring your lower-body strength 34

Stretchy Stuff: Checking Your Flexibility 35

Checks and Balances: Standing on One Foot 38

Recording Your Fitness Test Results 38

Making Sense of Your Test Results 40

Chapter 3: Watching What You Eat: Nutrition Basics 41

Keeping an Eye on How Much You Eat 42

Deciding What's for Dinner: Food, Real Food 44

Figuring Out Fat, Carbs, and Protein 45

Getting the real deal on fat 45

Choosing your carbs carefully 46

Avoiding high-protein propaganda 48

Getting the Scoop on Supplements 48

Fueling Up 49

Timing your meals 49

Eating before you work out 50

Snacking during your workout 50

Refueling after your workout 50

Drinking Plenty of Fluids 51

Chapter 4: Educating Yourself 53

Judging Fitness Media Reports 54

Starting with reliable publications 54

Watching out for sensational headlines 55

Considering credentials and biases 56

Making sure there's a source 56

Remembering that advertisers can influence content 57

Being wary of celebrity endorsements 58

Putting limited stock in personal stories 58

Asking whether a study is newsworthy 58

Watching for outdated information 59

Evaluating Scientific Research 59

Paying attention to the experiment 59

Noting that results can be manipulated 60

Checking the math 61

Not assuming cause and effect 61

Putting a study in context 61

Trusting Credible Coverage 62

Chapter 5: This Doesn't Have to Happen to You: Avoiding Common Injuries 63

Reducing Your Risk of Injury 64

Recognizing When You're Injured 65

Identifying Common Exercise Injuries and Ways to Avoid Them 65

Inside information: Surveying injuries to muscles, bone, and more 66

Looking at injuries by body part 69

Treating Sports Injuries with RICE, RICE, Baby 75

Part II: Going Cardio 77

Chapter 6: Cardio Crash Course: Getting the Right Intensity 79

Comparing Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise 80

Understanding the Importance of Warming Up and Cooling Down 81

Warming up 81

Cooling down 82

Using Simple Methods to Gauge Your Level of Effort 82

The talk test 83

Perceived exertion 83

Measuring Your Heart Rate 84

Looking at what heart rate tells you 84

Understanding your target zone 86

Finding your maximum and target heart rates 86

Measuring your pulse 88

Chapter 7: Creating a Cardio Program 91

Following a Cardio Plan 92

Doing cardio for good health 92

Doing cardio for weight loss 93

Doing cardio to maximize your fitness 96

Fun Ways to Dial Up Your Fitness and Burn More Calories 97

Interval training 98

Uphill battles 99

Tempo workouts 100

Lifestyle movement 100

Putting It All Together: Sample 6-Week Exercise Programs 101

Sample beginner program 101

Sample intermediate program 102

Estimating How Many Calories You're Burning 104

Knowing When to Give It a Rest 106

Chapter 8: Using Cardio Machines 109

Treadmill 110

Who will like it 111

Why the treadmill may not be your thing 111

Treadmill user tips 111

Elliptical Trainer 112

Who will like it 113

Why the elliptical may not be your thing 114

Elliptical-trainer user tips 114

Stationary Bicycle 114

Who will like it 115

Why the bike may not be your thing 115

Stationary-bike user tips 116

Stair-Climber 117

Who will like it 118

Why the stair-climber may not be your thing 118

Stair-climber user tips 118

Rowing Machine 119

Who will like it 120

Why the rower may not be your thing 120

Rowing-machine user tips 120

Chapter 9: Exercising Outdoors 123

Walking 123

Essential walking gear 124

Walking with good form 124

Walking tips for rookies 125

Running 125

Essential running gear 126

Running with good form 127

Running tips for rookies 128

Bicycling 128

Essential cycling gear 129

Cycling with good form 130

Cycling tips for rookies 130

In-Line Skating 131

Essential skating gear 132

Skating the right way 132

Skating tips for rookies 132

Exercising in Water 133

Essential water exercise gear 134

Swimming with good form 134

Swimming tips for rookies 135

Part III: Building Muscle and Strengthening Bone 137

Chapter 10: Why You've Gotta Lift Weights 139

Considering Five Important Reasons to Pick Up a Dumbbell 139

Staying strong for everyday life 140

Keeping your bones healthy 140

Preventing injuries 141

Looking better 142

Speeding up your metabolism 142

Building Muscle: Myths and Reality 143

Looking at questions of strength 143

Wondering about body shape 145

Asking about fat versus muscle 146

**Chapter 11: Your…