Some people used the term “weight loss” while others call it “fat loss” whilst many use the terms weight loss and fat loss interchangeably. Do they mean the same thing? To many people, they do mean the same thing. But the terms may be entirely different in meaning. You must know the difference if you want to lose weight or lose fat effectively and healthily.

When you step onto your bathroom scale every morning, what you will be reading from the scale is weight loss and not fat loss. Bath room scales are never accurate in determining fat loss.

Why? Because it measures your overall weight and not your body fat per se. If you weigh yourself in the morning before breakfast after your bowel movement, you will probably get your lowest reading of the day because your body is dehydrated through hours of non fluid replenishment when you were sleeping and after emptying your bowels, more water and wastes are flushed away so much so that you are you are lighter. After a night of sleep and not eating anything, your carbohydrate store is running low and therefore you are even lighter without the stored carbohydrate known as glycogen. What happened then? You just loss weight not loss fat! Your body fat is still there while the weight of other substances such as glycogen, wastes, water etc are depleted.

Now go weigh yourself again after dinner when you are fully replenished through meals and consumption of water and it may surprised you that you may probably weigh 2kg or more heavier and that is at least 4.4 pounds! You just gained weight and may even gained fat! Now you can see that it is such a misnomer when people think weight loss and fat loss are the same thing.

Why must you know the difference? Because for most of us, especially those who are on the fat side want to lose fat and not necessarily want to lose weight. Getting the drift?

Now for the more important part. Mere weight loss may cause you to lose muscle and in turn, make you gain body fat later. Yes, it is ironical. That is because the more muscle mass you have, the more you burn fat efficiently because muscle is an active tissue and it requires calories to function. Body fat just sit there doing nothing and thus do not burn calories on its own. So the less muscle mass you have, the less calories your body will burn. The fewer calories your body burn, the more calories ended up being stored as body fat! Therefore it is important to lose fat but not merely lose weight which may include the loss of muscle tissues.

How is it that a person may lose muscle on a weight loss program? Well for starters, we commonly hear about people going on this diet and that diet. Most diets demand a severe restriction of food or calorie intake. Your body will then signal to your mind that you are in a starvation mode and the body is designed to store fat for the impending famine and will use up your muscle for energy in your daily activities.

Some diets advocate a severe cut in carbohydrate. Carbohydrate is your body’s first source of energy. When your body is depleted of carbohydrate, it turns to your protein (muscles) and body fat indiscriminately for energy. Now to make matters worse, because of the restricted carbohydrate consumed, there will be fewer carbohydrate calories to be used as energy calories and that again will signal the onset of starvation mode again. The vicious cycle of your body cannibalizing its own muscle is set in motion again. The same applies to people on slimming pills or salon fat loss programs.

So some people say ok, Chris, I see your point, so I will just do plenty of cardio exercises to lose weight. Another grave mistake. Have you ever wondered why marathon runners, those who run many kilometers often and are doing cardio exercises almost everyday are so skinny with no muscle tone? Because your body is a wonderful machine. It is designed to adapt. When you run or skip or swim long enough, it will say, look, I better get lighter so that I can take the stress better and improve the endurance. Guess what? Your muscles are heavier than fats and what will your body shed more when it wants to get lighter? Muscle or fat? Your body will shed both but more muscles than fats.

Anyway, why would you want to lose weight only to become a smaller you with the same body shape without any muscle tone? Why would you want to be on a weight loss program that eats your muscles and lower your fat burning rate so much so that when you are off the program, the fats come piling back on again?

Therefore, while you are on a lose weight program, you must also be on a build muscle program. That will mean a combination of correct dietary habit, cardio exercises and weightlifting exercises to maintain muscle preservation and a fat loss result.

From now on tell people you are on a fat loss program and not a weight loss program. That you are on a correct eating habit instead of just simply dieting.

With the distinction clearly in mind, you will then know how to lose fat effectively, preserve and grow your muscles and at the same time losing weight on your bathroom scale. That would be an ideal way to achieve your weight loss objective because you will lose body fat instead of muscle and mere body wastes.

Chris Chew
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/weight-loss-or-fat-loss-important-differences-to-lose-weight-and-fat-healthily-10477.html

Visit the official Cardio Twister Website

If your workout consists of more than just jogging, at some point you’ll want to invest in some fitness equipment. Which you select will, naturally, depend on lots of things – budget vs price, quality vs needs, type and interests and so forth.

Fitness equipment can run anywhere from $50 to $5,000 or more. You may be satisfied with an exercise ball or you may want a complete gym. That depends, of course, on your budget, your commitment and your desired workout routine.

A few free weights might be a good start if your preliminary goal is to tone and build muscle mass. A quality bar for chin-ups and pull-ups would be a good addition to a basic set. Between floor exercises and some elementary weight lifting, combined with chin-ups or pull-ups, you can design a varied workout.

It’s always a good idea to have a longer-term plan, though. Buy higher quality today, equipment that lasts and that will continue to be part of your routine for several years. If you’re considering an exercise bike, for example, in order to do some spinning for a great cardio workout, get something solid and reliable. You want the bike to be good for at least five years.

Make sure you take into account how much space you have, and how much you’re likely to have for the next few years. For a bike you need only about 10 square feet, but a treadmill will require 30 square feet. A multi-station weight machine may take up to 100 square feet or more, depending on the design.

If you’re just starting out, test a variety of equipment from different manufacturers at multiple outlets. Several companies make high quality gear, but every person is an individual. That means that a machine that works great for one person may be unsuited for another.

A rowing machine that fits your tall friend may be useless, or actually harmful, for you. Get equipment that’s adjustable to fit your body size and type. That also helps when and if you share the equipment with a partner. Make sure the adjustments – for tensions, lengths, weights, etc – will travel through a wide range. As you build strength and endurance you’ll want equipment that continues to test you as you develop.

Make sure you, and anyone who shares it, can use the equipment safely. Multi-station weight machines have safety features that vary in style and effectiveness. Pick equipment that suits you, not the salesperson.

From some advisors, ‘no pain, no gain’ can mean ‘you should feel some pain’. Some mild discomfort the day after is normal and expected. But if it hurts you to use the gear, either you’re doing something wrong – and should get guidance about proper technique – or the equipment isn’t right for you. You should feel comfortable using it.

For example, walking machines should have rails that suit your height. They should also have rollers and settings that you can operate properly while in motion. Weight machines should have a chair and handlebars that you can sit in and grab without straining and don’t produce back or neck aches.

Shop around, ask a lot of questions and don’t buy until you are satisfied that you’ve found something that will last and suits your unique style.

Jerry Xavier
http://www.articlesbase.com/equipment-articles/secrets-of-choosing-gym-equipment-70046.html

One morning you wake up and trudge into the bathroom. When you look in the mirror while scratching your belly you notice that it jiggles. “That’s odd” you think, “I don’t remember it doing that.” And that’s where it starts, the sudden realization that a layer of fat is starting to take up residence on your body, most notably across your midsection.

Your first step is to come up with a plan to deal with this sudden intrusion. But what should you do? Of course, some sort of diet and maybe some exercise. So you start with that, trying to eat less and maybe a little healthier. But mainly you figure if you eat less that means less calories and therefore less fat. Throw in some sit-ups to firm up the old midsection and before long your six-pack will be showing through.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? And for thousands of people this is the way they try and deal with to much body fat. Everyday thousands of people jump on this bandwagon and everyday thousands of people fall off this bandwagon.

Why?

Because it simply doesn’t work that way. If you want to know how to get rid of belly fat then you have to look at the whole body. It is impossible to lose fat in a particular spot. No amount of sit-ups or crunches will melt that layer of fat away. You’ll just end up with rock hard abs hiding behind a layer of squishy fat. You have to have body wide fat reduction if you ever want to get rid of that extra belly fat.

There are three things you will have to do if you want to get rid of your belly fat.

1. Diet – This has nothing to do with the latest diet fad. This has everything to do with the nutritional value of the food you eat. Your body is a high performance machine. It needs protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamins and minerals to function properly. A lean healthy diet will allow your body to metabolize its fat store more efficiently

2. Core Strengthening Exercises – You must exercise and strengthen all your core muscles, not just your abs, if you want that firm toned midsection. In addition it is vitally important that you also exercise your major muscle groups which include your legs and back. These are the biggest muscles in your body and working them burns more calories then exercising just your abdominal muscles.

3. Cardio/Aerobic Training – The key to getting rid of fat is burning more calories than you take in. Aerobic training combined with the tips above does just that. If you want to get rid of belly fat then get up off the couch and go for a walk, take a bike ride, or play some hoops. Find something you like to do and keep doing it.

If you seriously want to get rid of that extra belly fat then you will need to put in a little work. Changing your diet and starting some form of exercise program is the perfect way to start.

Andrew Bicknell
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/how-to-get-rid-of-belly-fat-120821.html

A healthy body will never be a house to diseases. And the only mantra to a healthy body is exercising and workouts. Following a good exercising regime not only helps you remain fit, but also opens life-long paths for a healthy survival.

In the category of exercising equipment, lately, treadmills have caught the attention of many of the fitness freaks. Especially, it has come as a savior to the people who suffer from one or the other form of heart disorders. People, afflicted with such disorders, find it uncomfortable to walk for long distances. Besides this, due to lack of adequate energy, they are also unable to perform the basic activities of daily life. Thus treadmill walking inculcates in them the stamina of better and long walking. All these things give them a healthy heart and thus a healthy life.

The concept of treadmill exercising for heart patients is very simple. Through treadmill walking, they are administered what is called the sports physiology training. Its implication is that the speed of the treadmill is manually administered. Thus under this concept, treadmill training is provided to the patient according to his capability and comfort. With this, the patient is also provided with the treatment that helps in stimulation of the neuro-muscles.

Besides this, there are several other benefits that are incurred on the health of a heart patient with the help of treadmill workout programs. Regular practice of treadmill exercising adds strength in the body of the cardio patient. There is also an increased co-ordination between the brain and the body parts, with an over-all improvement in the quality of living.

The series of treadmill workout programs for a heart patient are quite different from what is generally used for a normal human being. The workout programs are of low intensity, predominantly involving brisk walking on the machine. As the patient feels an improvement in his over-all heart condition and health, he can increase the magnitude of the treadmill walking and even shift to running at times.

But, here is a very important thing to note. Treadmill exercising should only be practiced under the guidance of a good medical practitioner and an experienced trainer. Only an effective guide will lead you to the way of a healthy body and comfortable living.

No disease or disorder is incurable in the world today. All you need to do is to follow a lifestyle that aids your treatment process.

Ashish Jain
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/treadmill-training-for-patients-with-heart-problems-132610.html

If you’ve decided this is the year to get serious about your fitness congratulations are in order. Just making the decision is a great start. But between family, work, and other pressing engagements in an all too busy day when the heck will you ever get to the gym? Have you considered investing in one of the many fitness gyms for the home?

It’s really the answer. With just a little help from us we’ll show you how to find the perfect fitness equipment for your home. With so many fitness gyms on the market it can be a bit overwhelming trying to figure out which gym is the right one for you. Heck if you do it right you will choose equipment that your entire family could use. Of course if you have a medical condition always check with your doctor first before undergoing a new fitness program.

Just like different commercial fitness gyms have different equipment to offer their members different home gyms also have different equipment to offer. It’s a lot easier to stay on track with your fitness program if you know what it is you want out of your work out. You should also figure out what your current fitness level is.

You have treadmills, rowing machines, stationary bikes, cross country ski machines, free weights, and even multi machines to choose from. Home fitness gyms can be as simple or as complex as you want. The only other thing limiting you is your budget.

There’s nothing cheap about home fitness gyms. At least not the quality ones and you should never compromise poor quality for a cheap price. A treadmill is always a great buy if you have the room. You can vary your workout, increase the intensity, burn calories and get your cardio workout. Choose a belt driven model that has a safety shut off and that the treadmill itself is wide enough. Make sure you also know what the warranty is.

Home fitness gyms also do well with rowing machines and they offer an all over work out that has minimal impact on joints. Once you get the hang of the rowing machine it is an excellent piece of fitness equipment to have in your repertoire. Stationary bikes have been on the market for ages. The newer ones have a few more bells and whistles but at the end of the day they still do the same basic thing they did back then. Stationary bikes are a great start if you have had a sedentary lifestyle.

Home fitness gyms should always include a set of free weights. They are perfect for sculpting the body. They are affordable, easy to store, and a must for anyone that’s serious about their fitness program. You don’t burn a lot of calories with free rates but you do get some very nice definition by combining the two types of fitness training.

Knowing what it is you want makes it much easier to look at all the home fitness gyms on the market and then choose what’s best for you. You’re going to look great!

Steve Johnson
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/fitness-gyms-for-the-home-115499.html

Don’t you just hate your loves handles? No, come one, really? Don’t you just hate them? No matter how hard you exercise they are always there. Do you know why? Because there are no specific exercises for love handles. Love handles are just excess body fat that likes to hang off the side of your hips over the waist of your pants. And there isn’t an exercise in the world that can tighten up fat.

You can do thousands of sit-ups, crunches, and other equally painful Ab exercises all for naught. You have to get rid of the fat if you ever have a chance of getting rid of your love handles. If you are indeed doing abdominal exercises then once the fat begins to go away you will start to see the fruits of your hard work. That nice six-pack that’s been hiding beneath its warm blanket of fat and most importantly your love handles will start to melt away.

There are a minimum of three things you must do to get rid of your love handles.

1. Diet – This has nothing to do with the latest diet fad. This has everything to do with the nutritional value of the food you eat. Your body is a high performance machine. It needs protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamins and minerals to function properly. A lean healthy diet will allow your body to metabolize its fate store more efficiently

2. Core Strengthening Exercises – You must exercise and strengthen all your core muscles, not just your abs, if you want that firm toned midsection. In addition it is vitally important that you also exercise your major muscle groups which include your legs and back. These are the biggest muscles in your body and working them burns more calories then exercising just your abdominal muscles.

3. Cardio/Aerobic Training – The key to getting rid of fat is burning more calories than you take in. Aerobic training combined with the tips above does just that. If you want to get rid of belly fat then get up off the couch and go for a walk, take a bike ride, or play some hoops. Find something you like to do and keep doing it.

Remember there are no specific exercises for love handles. To make them disappear you have to not only exercise your core muscle groups but you also need to burn the extra calories to get rid of the fat. Only then will your love handles start to disappear.

Andrew Bicknell
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/exercises-for-love-handles-120785.html

Did you know February is heart health month? A great way to celebrate is to get heart healthy by making sure you do a minimum of 20 minutes cardio each and every day. Walking is a low-impact way to work out and get your heart pumping, keeping it strong and healthy. Here are some reasons why walking is so great for you and ideas on how you can get started walking right away.

You should always contact your doctor before starting any kind of exercise program, even if it is walking. Other than checking with your doctor it is very easy to start yourself on a walking for exercise routine. How far you go on your walk and how quickly you walk will be determined by your current fitness level. You’ll want to make sure you don’t push yourself and overdo it. If you are not currently at a high level of fitness and it’s been a few years since you’ve exercised then it’s best to start with a 10-minute walk during dinner or lunch each day. After a week or two, increase your walking time to 15 minutes. Before you know it, you will easily be walking 20 to 30 minutes a day.

It is very important when walking to improve your health that you stay consistent. Keep on schedule and walk every day or at the very least just about every day. It’s easiest to go for a walk outdoors but sometimes that just isn’t practical. Going to a mall and walking around before it opens or even to look around is an idea. Many malls are open to walkers even outside of regular business hours. Go to the information center at your local mall to find out if they allow this. You might even be able to join a walking group and exercise with others doing the same thing.

Of course you can always join your nearest gym. It is normal for any gym to have one or a few treadmills for walking or jogging on. At a gym you can also combine your walking with other activities such as a stationary bike or step machine. As you become stronger and have more endurance you may even find yourself using many of the other machines and even taking some exercise classes.

If you find you’re spending most of your time at the gym treadmill and really like it you may want to think about buying one for your home. This way you can work out more easily and on a schedule that will likely work better for you. People will often set up their treadmills in front of a window or a TV. By doing this you are able to get healthier without missing your favorite TV show.

Then there are walking workout DVDs. Check the exercise section of your favorite DVD store for walking DVDs. With most of them you will be walking in place in front of your TV while the DVD plays. The instructor walks you through the workout which usually also includes different step moves and an upper body workout.

With all these different walking options, your workout will never get dull or boring. Just get started and then make sure you walk in one form or another for 20 minutes a day. Your heart and the rest of your body will thank you for it.

Susanne Myers
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/walk-to-strenghten-your-heart-106922.html

If you work out, learning how to get six pack abs is likely high on your list of priorities. You’ll not only look better if you build six-pack abs, you’ll gain more confidence as well. It takes some effort and willpower to get abdominal definition, but if you stick with the right dieting and exercising program, you will succeed.
If you want to know how to get six pack abs you need to combine diet and exercise to get rid of any extra body fat around your waist. This extra body fat is what keeps most people from getting abs. The key to losing this unwanted fat is to increase your metabolism, or metabolic rate, which is the rate at which the body burns calories for energy.

As far as diet goes, eating 5 or 6 small meals daily is one of the best ways to get six pack abs. The process of eating actually speeds up your metabolism so you burn more body fat. Going on a starvation diet will lower your metabolism and make fat harder for you to burn fat. However, when you eat more frequently you need to make sure that your meals are low in calories. Your meals also need to be nutritious and high in protein. This doesn’t mean that you have to go on an extremely low-carb or low-fat diet. These macronutrients are important for many bodily functions. Just make sure to consume most of your carbs during your earlier meals because they’ll be less likely to end up being stored as fat. You should also have as many natural foods in your diet as possible if you want to get defined abs.

Of course you need to exercise if you want to get six-pack abs. What most people don’t realize is that it doesn’t take hour after hour of exercise every day to burn fat and get into shape. What it takes is high intensity training when you work out.

While cardiovascular exercise will help you burn a lot of calories, you can take it a step further and boost your metabolism by performing your cardio workouts with more intensity. Whether you run, bike, or exercise on an elliptical machine you should do some bursts of high intensity training to get the most out of it. This will allow you to finish your cardiovascular workouts in less time with all of the fat burning benefits. You may have heard that it’s best to do between 45 minutes and an hour of cardiovascular training every day to burn fat and get 6 pack abs, but this isn’t necessarily true. Look at elite sprinters as compared to elite distance runners – the sprinters always look more defined. If you work hard, a cardiovascular workout shouldn’t take longer than 20 to 30 minutes.

Weight training is another form of exercise you must do when you want to know how to get six pack abs. Building more muscle mass will boost your resting metabolic rate so that you are burning extra calories all of the time. The core of your body, which includes the abs, will also get work from stabilizing the body when you are lifting heavy weights. If you weight train with high intensity you should be able to get a great workout finished in 45 minutes or less. When you weight train, it’s best to focus most of your workout on performing the tough, compound exercises such as squats, deadlifts, power cleans, bench presses, pull-ups, rows, and military presses.

If you switch between doing cardiovascular and weight training workouts every other day, you’ll find that it won’t take as much time as you thought to get 6 pack abs. You can also opt to do both one day and rest the next. Whatever the case, you won’t need to spend your life in the gym to get into great shape if you train hard enough.

Rob
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/how-to-get-six-pack-abs-1206367.html

Can you decorate your morning? Of course you can. Heck, you can decorate a pet ferret if you’re so inclined, although I’d be sending some men in white coats your way if I saw you do it. “Morning rooms” exist, they rock, and in the grand words of my old high school English professor, “‘nuf said on the subject”.

Lots of people have never even heard the expression “morning room” and those who have usually envision a room residing somewhere in Bruce Wayne Manor, right next to the secret door that leads to the Bat Cave. In fact many homes built after the turn of the last century have an area that can be used as a breakfast nook. The difference between a breakfast nook and a morning room is essentially flowers, comfortable chairs, good coffee, and pompous attitude, so potentially you already own a “morning room”, it just has an identity crisis. Now if only you had a butler named Alfred and a secret lair.

So, if you’re following along, one can consider the “morning room” as the classier incarnation of that tried and true “breakfast nook”. This epiphany – of course – assumes that you make significantly less than $10, 000, 000.00 British Pounds per year. If you are a rich bugger, then the concept of “morning room” can contain an entirely different meaning.

The purpose of a morning room is to have a sanctuary within your private house or establishment – where people can sit, talk, relax, ponder, e.t.c… during daylight hours. Also, genetically speaking, it is within our human nature to seek sunlight upon waking so as to acclimatize our bodies and minds for the day ahead. In that respect a morning room is a perfect spot to nibble a quick bite, grab a coffee and gather your thoughts.

• Factoid: In my relentless pursuit to inform and educate, I’ve come to discover that morning rooms are – for the most part – designed for morning use. I tell you fair and gentle reader, I leave no stone unturned, no weed unearthed.

So if by now, you still are unclear as to what a morning room is, I’ll quote my 16 year old son and then … ‘nuf said on the subject.

“It’s kind of .. like… just a place where you can chill and munch out before school.”

So how do you appropriately adorn and decorate a morning room? Of course this all comes down to your personal style, but there are a few things worth noting:

• Darker wall colors will absorb natural light and heat, so they can be useful to keep your guests from feeling as if they’re sitting inside a solar flare. The opposite can be said for your color choice of furnishings, because incessant sunlight can heat up a dark seat like a frying pan.
• Any respective artwork will want to have some darker shadings, perhaps even textures, to make it feature more within the natural light surrounding it.
• Window coverings – if at all necessary – should be sheer and loose, having a translucent quality. This can be achieved using any open weaved decorative fabric.
• Certain high-light plants can give you that “outdoorsy” feeling, should you be so inclined. Larger floor plants work if your “nook” is on the larger scale. Plants such as Norfolk Island Pine, Weeping Fig, even Fiddle-leaved Fig plants can work well in bright, sunlit areas as accent pieces. Otherwise, you can achieve a similar feel by utilizing a good soft toned *flower arrangement as a center piece on your table.

A morning room is easy to decorate as long as you start by defining it as a “mini-dining room for sun worship”. You will of course need an appropriate table – I prefer smallish – with a few comfortable chairs surrounding it. I wouldn’t go for a table that sits too high vertically; instead try to find something that’s in between dining table height and coffee table height. I have seen a few very attractive morning rooms with typical dining room chairs being used, but my personal preference is to bargain hunt for some good quality high seated, cushioned chairs. These are not the soft and cushy flop chairs you find in a master bedroom or living room, but a kind of hybrid dining chair that adds lots of padding and some “sink in” value. They can be found at any furniture gallery worth a salt. I keep harping on the chairs because seating is one of the more important elements of a good “morning room”. It should be more comfortable than a typical dining ensemble, and should enable you to sit upright for a spot of tea as well as be comfortable when leaning back to meditate on the coming day.

Your morning room will certainly want to face the rising sun, otherwise forget a morning room and get a light therapy machine. (I’m kidding, I think) Assuming your room IS guided to glory by the rising of the sun, it will be well lit by a natural light source and this creates two potentially negative effects on the room:

1. Temperature: sunlight produces quite a bit of excess heat, more-so when accumulated in small spaces. You will want to try and offset this with a powerful, yet quiet ceiling fan or a small air conditioning unit. Floor model fans are usually miserable in a small room as their use often results in a napkin blowing Festival Of Doom. Unless you’re prepared to tie everything in the nook down, forget a standing fan for cooling. It’s just not really conducive to a relaxing morning coffee when your chasing around the sports section. Get your cardio workouts in the gym, I say.
2. With natural light, aesthetic imperfections are magnified at least 436, 799 (and 1/3rd) times. OK I’m not so sure about the statistic, but I can tell you that fading paint or a chipped fruit bowl seem to have a Rock Star Spotlight on it in a morning room. Room dust can also hinder your morning tranquility, as it just seems to hang in the air, reflecting the sunlight and reminding you of just exactly that which is landing on your breakfast bagel and eggs. As such, you will want to keep the room well maintained and as dust free as possible.

*For full disclosure I have to say that when I commence to feats of decorating prowess, the rule is to never use real flowers in small spaces, using nooks as the prime example. Flower arrangements can produce pollen and irritate sinuses, not the best way for someone to start their day. If you have guests occasionally and you don’t wish to keep a candy dish of antihistamines near by, lose the FTD credit card already. Flowers can also significantly add to dust in a small area, even when kept perfectly. So if you choose to go the route of having a flower arrangement, spend a little extra and get a nice faux flower deal and put some aroma therapy candles around for the scent of lavender, Jasmine, or my personal favorite, burgamot.

Dollars to donuts says that if you have a detached private home there is an area available that you can designate a “morning room”. If not, oh well, no loss really, after all sunlight is highly overrated. (I’m kidding again, I think) If you feel like taking a break from eating toast on your way to work however, recon your home for that one place pointing towards the big, bright and shiny ball in the sky, and start your creative juices to build your own little piece of morning nirvana. Me, I hate mornings, even when they come after noon. I’ll stick to the bat cave, thank you very much.

Peter F Gibson
http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/how-to-rename-your-breakfast-nook-746523.html

The Nordic Track brand name is now owned by Icon Health and Fitness which is one of the largest manufactures of fitness equipment in the world. Nordic Track is known for their SpaceSaver elliptical trainers that have several good features that are unique to a low to mid level elliptical machines. One of their best features is found on Nordic Track ellipticals is the incline ramp on the model CX 938 and CX 1055. This allows you to change the angle and shape of the elliptical stride to work different muscle groups of the lower body. This feature makes this elliptical trainer a true cross trainer.

The Nordic Track Stride Thru or right system also changes the length of stride. Ranging from 18 to 21 inches the stride targets specific muscles groups. The shorter stride will work, tighten and raise the buttocks and slim the hips while the longer strides will help burn calories. The pedals on most models are large enough to allow you to comfortable place your feet for long rides. The upper body workout using the simulated ski poles along with the long strides will also keep you from losing upper body strength and mass that normally accompanies cardio exercise.

Nordic Track elliptical trainers are equipped with SMR (silent magnetic resistance) from Icon that allows a fairly smooth ride. This system allows you to change resistance on the fly without interrupting your workout routine. Nordic Track elliptical trainers like many of Icons elliptical machines have the reputation of being noisy and clunky. The higher end elliptical trainers apparently do not have this problem. Nordic Track includes between 10 and 19 workout programs with its elliptical trainers that will fit most people.

Nordic Track ellipticals also have a console with easy to read LED scan that lets you read it from almost any angle. EKG handle bars will also give you fairly accurate heart rate readings. On some models you must hold the sensors fairly tightly for more than 15 seconds to get any reading at all and on other models the grip sensors give you a read out fairly quickly. Mid range and higher Nordic Track elliptical machines have multi-speed fans which are really appreciated during long rides in non air conditioned sites.

Elliptical trainers costing less than $1100.00 are design for infrequent use in a residential setting. If you are planning on using your elliptical trainer more than twice a week for hard intense rides lasting more than 30 minutes then you should seriously consider moving up to a higher end elliptical machine. Nordic Track has a fairly good warranty that covers frame, parts and labor for one year. It is imperative that if you are purchasing a mid level elliptical trainer that you invest in an extended warranty.

Nordic Track elliptical trainers are very popular. We recommend the mid level ($500 to $900) elliptical machines for casual in home use. Elliptical trainers are probably the best piece of fitness equipment on the market.

Jim Kesel
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/nordic-track-elliptical-trainer-information-136974.html