Toluu

Gyminee Blog | Health and Fitness News, Gyminee Features

Just another WordPress weblog

Coffee: Friend of Foe?January 5

Depending on what camp you’re in, it is not difficult to find research supporting the pros and cons of coffee consumption.

It is important to acknowledge that caffeine is considered to be a drug; specifically a stimulant. While I leave it to the readers of this posting to decide whether or not caffeine consumption should be part of your diet, I do want to point out that pregnant women need to be aware that there is research that associates an increase in the risk of miscarriage with caffeine consumption.

With that out of the way, I’ll disclose that I am a coffee-holic. I will defend my right to drink coffee until the day I am no longer here on Earth. However, if this stuff is eventually going to kill me, I wouldn’t mind knowing so I have been pouring over what seems like an insurmountable amount of research trying to determine if coffee is actually my friend or foe.

For years there have been correlations made between caffeine and cardiovascular disease and in my research I was able to find several older studies that support the hypothesis that caffeine consumption increases the risk of heart disease.

These studies for the

“Baby Steps” in 2009December 29 2008

So, you are about to make it through the holidays and you are figuring out your New Year’s resolution. Some of you may be giving up a vice or perhaps joining a gym on January 2nd. There are thousands of documented resolutions, but if yours includes losing weight and getting in shape I have a nickel’s-worth of free advice for you: make your goals reasonable, you don’t have to take over the world in one year; make your goals attainable and in stages. If you’d like to drop 30-40 pounds, don’t simply set that as your total goal and start running; cut that goal up into smaller reachable units. It is much less daunting to say that you’d like to drop 10 pounds in three months, then the whole 30 or 40. This will help keep you motivated and on track, you will have a tighter deadline and see your goal weight getting closer sooner rather than later.

How many times have you been given a task with a distant deadline and then ended up waiting until the last possible moment to do it? I did that all of the time until I finally sat down and wrote out my goals. I decided to go for it in 10 pound increments, and I found it was much easier to do. The next thing I knew, I was halfway to my goals in

How Bad Do I Want It?December 19 2008

This is the most important question most of us should ask ourselves during the most tempting time of the year. It is the holiday season again, apple pie, beer and wine, this and that — and lots more FAT! Many people fall off of the wagon now more than ever, and simply figure they’ll get back into it after the New Year. Many people gain 1-2 pounds per year of adult life, and these are usually packed on during the HO- HO- Holidays. If you are already overweight, you have an even greater risk of gaining 5 or more pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years.

 

It is so easy to just let things slide and eat that piece of pie. But do you really want to undo all of this year’s hard work? If it were easy to have an incredibly fit and trim body, everyone would, right? You have to ask yourself everyday: “How bad do I want it?” I hear people claiming that since they’ve worked hard they deserve a little treat. This is true to some extent, and it mostly depends on how close you are to your goals. But sometimes it can be no different tha

Don’t Panic, Here’s a Great Gift Idea!December 14 2008

With Christmas less than 2 weeks away and the start of a New Year just around the corner, you’re probably beginning to panic as you try to think of what to get that special someone. There is no shortage of ideas but finding something meaningful is no easy task.

Wouldn’t it be great to give a gift that could change that special someone’s life?  Well, here is one idea…

How about giving the ‘Gift of  Health’ ?  The timing is perfect and armed with our new 1 year Gyminee PRO Membership, he or she can start fresh and begin that ‘Life Change’ in 2009!  Subscribing to PRO workouts, setting some achievable fitness goals, and participating in a Challenge are just a few of the small steps that lead to significant change.

Now if you wanted to impress them even more, you could add a cool Gyminee T-shirt from our Gyminee Store with that membership!. If you have a humorous side, go a size or two up or down as an incentive for them to reach their goals.

Healthy holidays from the Gyminee Team.

Milk Does A Body GoodDecember 11 2008

In his book In Defense Of Food, Michael Pollan suggests that we shouldn’t eat anything that our grandmother’s wouldn’t recognize as food.

The same can be applied to what we drink, which has resulted in my taking a very close look at my post-exercise supplementation.

I came across several studies comparing cows’ milk (whole milk, low-fat, skimmed and chocolate) to soy-based and commercial sports drinks (e.g, Gatorade, Powerade) and each supports cows milk as a good post-workout drink for both endurance and strength training.

In looking at the chemical make-up of milk, it contains casein and whey protein, carbohydrates, calcium, and a host of vitamins including D and B12. Compare that to Gatorade which is primarily composed of sugary carbohydrates, and already milk is looking pretty good.

But the news gets even better for cows’ milk as a post-exercise beverage:

- Research suggests that proteins in cows’ milk supports greater muscle hypertrophy post ex