PEERtrainer Fitness

Does Long Distance Running Hurt Your Knees?

Since I started training for a marathon, people keep warning me that I will ruin my knees or my feet. The reality is that knee and feet injuries are prevalent. I came across a very interesting study in the New York Times recently, that provided some insight into this question. A group of Austrian researchers had studied the knees of marathon runners over a 10 year period. The following is a summary of the study and the findings.

"OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate long-term damage in the internal structures of the knee joints of recreational long-distance runners. 

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten years after their participation in a baseline study concerning their knee joints, seven long-distance runners and one who had given up long-distance running were invited to participate in a repeat magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) investigation. The same evaluation criteria and the same technical equipment were used, and the results of the two investigations were compared.

RESULT: No adverse long-term consequences were observed in six of the seven active runners, regardless of pre-existing damage at the baseline investigation. In one case the arthrotic changes were progressive in nature. The person who had given up running presented with severe deterioration of the internal structures of the knee joint. 

CONCLUSION: Non-physiological maximal loads secondary to the marathon race do not cause any permanent damage in the internal structures of the knee joint in individuals without significant pre-existing damage. A disposition for premature arthrosis was not registered in the population investigated. A protective value of long distance running on the internal structures of the knee joint is discussed."

Other studies have shown basically the same thing- that running does not cause your knees to wear out, and that running often helps improve the long term health profile of the knee. The important caveat here is that if you are overweight or running in an improper form, you can develop serious injuries.

If you have anything to add to this discussion we WANT to hear it. Please click here to add to it!

Bodylastics and Total Gym On Sale This Week

By Habib Wicks, PEERtrainer co-founder

We are big advocates of people getting physically stronger. And we strongly recommend having stuff at home that you can use. Two things that I use literally every day when I am at home are Bodylastics and Total Gym. You can get both products at a discount this week.

Bodylastics

Bodylastics makes resistance bands sets. There are different options depending on how much resistance you are looking for. This company makes the highest quality product in the market. We cover resistance bands a lot in our fitness content. If you have been thinking about buying a set, for the next week the company is offering PEERtrainer members a 5% discount. You can apply the discount by clicking on this link and then entering the word "peertrainer" (you need to use lowercase) in the coupon code field. This code expires in a week. Btw, Blake runs this company and is my buddy. I can personally vouch for the product and the people behind it!

Total Gym

The best way to describe Total Gym is by presenting part of their Wikipedia Entry:

"In 1974 (before there was any thought of an informercial) the very first Total Gym was developed by Tom Campanaro (then a competitive body builder) and his partners Dale McMurray and Larry Westfall in San Diego, California. They started a company with the name "Total Gym Incorporated". The device encouraged "functional exercise", a way of duplicating movements the body performs in everyday life, with and against gravity. This caught the eye of Physical Therapists and other medical professionals. The machine was found to engage all muscle groups, allowing over 100 functional exercises on different levels of inclined resistance. The full range of motion and variable resistance levels (heavier resistance near the top and light resistance when more horizontal) brought much attention to various professionals. Customers were starting to use the product for upper and lower body exercises to do stretching, strengthening, and comprehensive movements similar to aerobics. The easy concept was found to help facilitate key components of exercise: cardiovascular endurance (aerobics), muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition. The machines typically take up much less space than a complete set of weights and machines."

I simply LOVE this machine. Right now I am training for a marathon and find that it is an excellent addition to my overall training. Until August 20th you can get the top of the line model (the XLS) for almost half off. If you have been thinking about getting one, this is the time! Click here to buy a Total Gym XLS with the discount.

Full Body Circuit Workout With Resistance Bands

This video shows you how to get a full body workout using a high quality set of resistance bands. As you can see you can get a very effective workout quickly with resistance bands. In this case we are using the Bodylastics set designed by Terrell Owens, a well known professional football player:

Click here to learn more about Bodylastics resistance bands or purchase a set.

Learn more about resistance bands from PEERtrainer.

How To Build Shoulder Muscles

This is article is designed to answer a very common questions many men have- how to build shoulder muscles. If you look at a guy like Terrell Owens, you see that his deltoid muscles look like someone put a deck of playing cards under his skin. They pop right out.

And a lot of guys want that look. The secret to developing these muscles is to work them smarter, not necessarily harder. Most men are familiar with things like pushups, shoulder presses, bench presses etc. The important thing to realize is that those muscles work the big muscles primarily. In order to really work the deltoid in the optimal way, you need to do two things.

1) Get a set of resistance bands and do sets of bicep curls combined with shoulder presses. For some reason this works the entire shoulder and upper arm in a way that you simply cannot get with conventional weights. Do your other workouts as well, but also add sets with the resistance bands. The best resistance bands are the ones that T.O. actually developed- the T.O. Bands from Bodylastics. Less than $100 for an insanely good piece of equipment.

2) Find a Total Gym. Again, the idea is that you want to hit these hard to isolate muscles in ways they have not been tested before. With the Total Gym, you workout on an incline. The resistance is a combination of your bodyweight and the level of incline you are using. Total Gym allows you to do a shoulder press where you get on your stomach and push your body up along the incline. It works incredibly well to isolate your shoulders and upper body. Total Gym usually has good deals on their website. You can often find equipment 50% off as well as factory refurbished units.

With both these pieces of equipment you will be able to do a wide array of exercises beyond just working out your shoulders.

How To Build and Workout Your Biceps and Forearm Muscles

Biceps forearms

Just about everybody who works out, regardless if you’re a man or a woman, has at least some desire for nice looking bicep muscles.  Whether you’re a guy wanting great looking “guns”, “pythons”, or “pipes” on the beach, or a woman who wants some nicely defined arms in your summer dress, nice looking biceps are perhaps the most widely sought after muscle. 

There are of course tons of ways to build your biceps ranging from free weights to resistance bands such as Bodylastics to bodyweight exercises like chin-ups to an exercise machine like Total Gym.

In this video, we demonstrate how you can build your biceps, as well as your forearms) using a Total Gym XLS system.  While this is by no means the only way to get some nice looking guns it is certainly one good way that has other advantages.  If you’re in the market for a nice, compact home gym system Total Gym is excellent because of the sheer number of exercises it allows you to do in one small space.  You can work so many different muscle groups and transition from working one body part to the next very quickly and easily.  In 20 minutes you can get a pretty kick-butt full body workout, including a good dose of cardio (you may want to add other cardio to your workout depending on what you’re into and what level of conditioning you’re starting from, but you will definitely get your heart going using the Total Gym.

Here are some of the bicep and forearm exercises you can perform using Total Gym:

Seated Biceps Curl- The basic bicep curl, only with a Total Gym you’re using your own bodyweight on the glideboard rather than barbells, dumbbells, etc. 

Inverted Biceps Curl- A variation where you lie back on the glideboard and work a fuller range of motion.  This is a killer that REALLY works out the biceps!

Preacher Curl- Another standard bicep exercise only instead of using a preacher curl stand you stabilize your elbow with your opposite hand.

Lateral Biceps Curl- To do this exercise on a Total Gym XLS, you sit with you legs hanging off one side of the glideboard and perform the curl exercise using just one arm at a time.  This notches up the intensity of the exercise nicely. 

Forearm Curl- By bringing your feet up onto the glideboard and bending at the knees, you create the position necessary to work your forearms.  You work both sides of the forearms for nice definition and muscle tone. 

Continue Reading The PEERtrainer Review of Total Gym

Continue Reading How Resistance Bands Build Muscle

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Hips, Thighs and Glutes Workout Using The Total Gym Pilates Bar

A lot of women are frustrated by not having the shapely hips and thighs they want.  Often this is a part of the female anatomy where extra fat tends to ‘hang out’.

Much of the reason for this is biological.  Women’s bodies in general are built to store fat in this area of the body to assist the childbearing and to also store excess weight for times of scarcity (so they can continue to produce milk for their children). 

Nature’s wisdom can be a bit of a bummer at times, eh?

Nevertheless, through a combination of doing the right exercises (as well as the right dietary choices, of course) and a bit of patience, you can still override this frustrating biological trait. 

If you’re struggling in particular with the dietary piece of this puzzle, then please check out our Free PEERtrainer Tip Of The Day or even our 12 week intensive mind training program that will help you internalize all the knowledge and motivation you need to get your eating program on the right track. 

As far as the exercise part of the equation is concerned, you might want to look into a Total Gym system.  You’ve seen the late night infomercials with Chuck and Christie by now, and we’ve been using it ourselves here at PEERtrainer.  We love it!  It’s a great home gym system, that is VERY versatile (we’re using the Total Gym XLS model which has the greatest range of possible exercises of the various models) and very easy to set up and store (it folks like an ironing board).

In this video, we demonstrate how to do some very effective hip, thigh and buttock strengthening exercises.  Okay, so it’s a guy demonstrating these exercises (but he’s the co-creator of all our training programs so he really knows his stuff), but nevertheless you’ll see those little soft spots on the tush and thighs go extinct before too long.

By the way, some of the stuff we demonstrate in this video uses the Total Gym XLS Pilates attachment system.  You can do a full pilates workout using the Total Gym XLS.  If this interests you (and if you like pilates then it should, because it’s like getting an entire pilates machine at the same time) then you’d need to buy the Total Gym XLS model because the others don’t come with the pilates accessories.  

Click here to read our review of the Total Gym XLS

Hamstring Workout Using The Total Gym

If you’re in the pursuit of stronger leg muscles, chances are you’ll begin by working on your quadriceps and then follow-up shortly after by strengthening you hamstrings. 

Hamstring muscle strains and injuries are quite common, so it’s a smart idea to keep these muscles on the back of your legs strong and toned if you’re physically active.

If it’s nice beach legs you’re after, the hamstrings are also a good muscle to target.  They contribute to that firm thigh/buttock look that many women (and men) want- particularly in the summer months when they’re in beach/outdoors clothes. 

When it comes to weight loss, the hamstrings also figure into the picture pretty solidly.  They are large muscles in the legs and if your goal is to increase overall muscle mass to increase your metabolism and hence your fat burn.

In this video, we demonstrate how to use a Total Gym XLS (a great all-in-one home gym system we like made famous by Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley in late night infomercials) to grow your hamstring muscles. 

Among the exercises you can use a Total Gym XLS to execute for the hamstrings are:

Standing Lunge- this actually works both the quadriceps and the hamstrings, so we included it in our hamstrings video.

Hamstring Leg Curl- This may be the mother off all hamstring exercises.  You’ve no doubt seen a variation of this at the health club.  Usually there are several machines dedicated to this exercise.  On the Total Gym you do it with the Wing Attachment and then you curl your own body weight on the Total Gym glide board.  It’s actually pretty fun to do, and will give you a serious burn on the hamstrings.

Sprinter Start- Another exercise that works both the quadriceps and the hamstrings.  Imagine you’re a sprinter starting a sprint race and you’ll get an idea of what this looks like. 

Read the full PEERtrainer review of the Total Gym XLS

How To Get A Good Strength Workout For Your Legs | Demo Using Total Gym

Looking to strengthen your leg muscles?  Maybe you’re looking to add strength to the other exercise activities you do such as running or cycling.  Or maybe you’re looking for a way to increase your overall body muscle composition to increase your metabolism and fat burn.

Regardless of your motives, this video will show you how to work our build your quadriceps using a variety of squat exercises on a Total Gym system.  Total Gym is a very versatile home gym system that allows you to work all major muscles groups while also getting a cardio workout. At PEERtrainer, we have become big fans of this product.

Strengthening your quadriceps helps with weight loss (because it’s a large muscle and more muscle = higher metabolism = more fat burned) and it also will give you nice, shapely legs.  It will also add a lot of functional strength that will be helpful throughout your day- climbing stairs, carrying little kids around, lifting boxes in the garage, etc.

Check out this video where we demonstrate how you can build your quads using a Total Gym XLS.  Here are some of the exercises you can do using the Total Gym system, several of which are featured in this video:

Squats- Perhaps the most standard, straightforward leg strengthening exercise.  If you decide to purchase a Total Gym machine, then either the XLS or the 3000 model come with the squat stand. 

Jump Squats- Another variation of the squat, only using a thrust motion to jump up.  Creates additional burn and intensity on the muscles. 

One Legged Squats-  You can quickly double the intensity of the squat exercise by doing it with just one leg.

One Legged Jump Squats- Same as above, increase intensity by going to one leg.  This one’s a killer!  We’re talkin’ some serious leg burn here!

Side Squat-  Another variation where you turn to the side…easiest to do the one leg version.

Calf Raises- Another standard leg strength building exercise for the calves.  Total Gym offers a quick and easy way to do this using the squat platform.

read the full PEERtrainer review of the Total Gym XLS

Can You Get A Good Shoulder Workout With Total Gym? | How To Get A Good Shoulder Muscle Workout

The shoulders are relatively small muscles in comparison to many other ones in the body, but they important for a number of reasons.  
 
Strong, healthy shoulder muscles can help prevent a lot of common day-to-day injuries that come from lifting or throwing (think lifting groceries, lifting kids in and out of the car, mowing the lawn or playing ball with kids).  
 
The shoulders (in combination with the neck and upper back muscles) also figure prominently into having healthy posture.  If the shoulders and upper back muscles are weak you could be prone to rounded, slouched posture. This can lead to an achy upper back and sore neck muscles.
 
Beyond these injury prevention and posture enhancing reasons to have strong shoulders, there is another reason to enhance your shoulder muscles- well developed shoulders look good!  Well developed shoulders add to strong looking arms and a chiseled looking figure.  This applies equally to men and women, though the degree of muscle development they seek may be different.  
 
In the video on this page, we show you a number of great shoulder strength building exercises using the Total Gym XLS system.  At PEERtrainer, we have become big fans of this product and method of woring out. It is easy to so, you do it at home for a few minutes a day. It works well for people who are busy with "real life." The reality is that you often only have a few minutes to get a workout in, and if you have this in your home odds are you will use it.

Here are some of the shoulder building exercises you can do with the Total Gym.  By the way, we highly recommend you also watch our video on strengthening your back muscles using the Total Gym as these two muscle groups are intimately connected.  Several of these are featured in our review video:

Shoulder Press (Military Press)- This is probably the most basic and fundamental shoulder building exercise where you simply press weight (dumb bells or a barbell) over your head. The Total Gym XLS

actually offers a unique (and fun believe it or not) way to do the shoulder press.  It’s featured in our video.
 
Front Shoulder Raise/Side Shoulder Raise- Again, very basic but highly effective shoulder building exercises.  Using the Total Gym XLS pulley system, you lift your arms straight forward or to the side, depending on how you want to work you shoulder muscles.
 
Serve-  A basic Pilates exercise that that works other arm muscles as well.
 
Inverted Front Shoulder Raise/Inverted Side Shoulder Raise (aka: Inverted Iron Cross)- Different variations of the above while lying down on the Total Gym XLS glideboard. It’s easy to quickly find the variations that best suit you.   
 
Upright Row- This very effectively works the shoulders and upper back muscles.