I had the luxury, honour and excitement to have trained with a small Elite group of World Class Athletes and boy did I take my health and physical fitness to the next level.

Have you heard of the saying “You are who you hang around with?” Well I understand it now and I’ll tell you why! I knew taking the challenge and committing myself to the discipline and intensity of training with an Elite group of jumpers and sprinters was going to be the hardest thing I had done to date. My health and physical fitness was good before I started, but I was still sore for every day for 4 weeks when I was put through the paces of the UK’s Top Performance Coaches winter training program.

I want to discuss with you some of what I feel are the vital lessons I’ve learnt in improving my health and physical fitness which have had dramatic effects;

1. Plyometrics – simply jumping and hopping exercises – the effects that these exercises on my speed and body fat reduction was amazing.
2. Training with people better than you – Improves expectations of yourself and makes you work harder and faster towards your goal.
3. Rest and recovery – The importance of listening to your body is vital to staying injury free.
4. Discipline -The focus you need to improve and to stay healthy helps you stay the course.

Plyometrics – The biggest wake up call to me was plyometrics, basically all that hopping and bounding you see athletes do on grass and over hurdles etc. I had never given them their due credit and it showed; my example of a single leg hoping was pathetic. But as I had about 7 Plyometric exercises to do every Thursday I soon improved my strength and became very lean (ripped!) within weeks! The intensity is so great I found that after just two weeks of hard hopping and bounding my fat just melted off! My legs became super strong and my running speed improved throughout the year.

Training with people better than you – Improves your health and physical fitness faster!
My health and physical fitness was at a level that I thought was good. But when you are taken out of you comfort zone and someone has higher expectations of you than you do – it adds to your drive and ability. Combine that with having better people to aspire to, you find that you begin step up to the plate, towards the level of the people surrounding you. For example, my weights and speed improved markedly because I had one of the best coaches around shouting and screaming at me that I could do it, and I did, in as little as 3 months I was putting out some training sessions as good as if not better than the group I was training with. My advice to you is find a great coach/mentor, train with better people than you and have higher expectations of yourself. It can work for your health and physical fitness goals and any other goals equally.

Rest and recovery – the missing link to your health and physical fitness
Do you get silly injuries, niggles that soon become chronic? I know I have. The next part of my health and physical fitness education was the importance of rest and recovery. World Class Athletes have massages at least 3 times a week on their legs and back, routine check ups and listen to what their bodies are telling them. Straight after a hard technical session we would have ice baths; which were absolutely freezing as we had to stand in a big wheelie bin for over 10 minutes until we couldn’t feel our toes. The result however was amazing, almost no soreness the next day! Combine this with a good deep tissue massage to get the muscles relaxed and flushed out of toxins and you are in great shape week in week out.

The last thing I want to discuss is my Health and physical fitness enlightenment is discipline.
It means two things; the discipline to train when called upon but also the discipline not to train if you are slightly tight, too tired or not mentally with it. These are the keys to staying healthy, avoiding injury and not getting into a rut. You have to have the commitment to turn up when it’s raining, or when you don’t feel like it. It’s this discipline that World Class Athletes all share.

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“Paul Simmons; dedicated Health and Fitness Expert, Co-founder of Fit-and-Healthy-Now.com with over 18 years of experience primarily in athletics and weight training. Was coached by the Top UK Athletics Performance Coach and trained with Olympic and World-class athletes.

http://www.fit-and-healthy-now.com

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You really want to take a cruise but you also really want to go to a spa for physical fitness and maybe a little pampering. In the world today you can do both. Years ago you were lucky to find a spa on a cruise ship. If there was one, it was in a really remote area of the ship. As for physical fitness there was very little equipment and most of it was tired. When people started to become more conscious of their looks and health the cruise lines revised their way of thinking. Cruise travel now can double as a spa vacation as well as learning a new physical fitness program.

The newer cruise ships have gone to great lengths to accommodate the cruise passenger who also wants to beautify and tone up. The cruise lines have installed state of the art equipment, added numerous exercise classes, and offer the newest beauty treatments available. Many of the cruise lines have relocated their fitness centers to the top decks of the ships with lots of windows so you can have a view while you are on the treadmill, bike, or lifting weights. Tucked up into the corner is a big TV so you can watch the news from back home. The cruise ships now have three distinct areas, one for fitness, one for spa treatments and one for the beauty salon.

As mentioned, the fitness centers on cruise ships are now a thing to behold. They all will definitely have treadmills, Stairmasters, free weights rowing machines and bikes. Some cruise lines even have complete Nautilus machines. Popular exercise machines, especially on sea days, may require you to sign up for a particular time of day and will limit the amount of time you can use the machine.

If you want to use your cruise travel as a vehicle to start an exercise regime there are physical trainers onboard. Their services, however, will cost you extra. The trainer will ask you lots of questions about your health and diet and then will come up with a personal regime for you. He or she will then book times through the week for you to work together.

All cruise lines offer exercise classes, yoga, aerobics, dance, water aerobics, even Pilates and kickboxing. Some of these may require a slight fee. To find out when these classes are held consult your daily bulletin for times and fees, if any.

Now, you’re thinking why would I start a physical fitness regime while on a cruise ship, especially since they serve all that food, 24 hours a day? Well along with the newer, shinier and better facilities the cruise lines have also instituted what they call spa cuisine. Everyday they will offer a “lighter side” menu if you are really serious about you new physical fitness regime.

Don’t assume that if the ship is older, it won’t have a decent fitness and spa area. Check with your cruise travel agent to find out what facilities are onboard the cruise ship you have chosen. For instance, the QE2 is an older ship but it has a beautifully outfitted spa with a large staff. Celebrity’s slight older Century has a Thalassotherapy pool for their passenger’s enjoyment and it has become quite popular among their cruisers.

When you board your cruise ship go to the spa area. Usually on the first day the staff will be explaining their treatments and occasionally demonstrate how it is done. Sometimes they will raffle off treatments, so go to the demonstration just for that reason. If you have definitely decided that you will be doing some treatments, book them on day one to get the best times. Any beauty salon appointments should be made then too, hair appointments for formal night go very quickly.

Many times the spa and beauty staff will discount their services on days when the ship is in port. If you are going to a few cruise destinations that you have previously visited, take advantage of these offers. You will find that you can pick your time of day to get these treatments done with little or no competition. If you are an early riser, choose an appointment in the morning and then get off the ship to enjoy that port. Or, conversely, disembark early to explore your new port, and then return to the ship in the early afternoon to take advantage of a discounted treatment.

When you go to your spa appointment, do not wear jewelry or fancy clothes. Most treatments are a bit messy and you don’t want to ruin any of your belongings. It is best just to wear a robe. When you get there an attendant will give you a towel and a private locker to put away your things. You may then be asked to wait in a room. Your technician will come out to take you to the room designated for that particular application. You will also fill out a form on your health and any surgeries that you have had. The room you are in will most likely have a shower. It will definitely have a sound system to play soothing music and there will be an array of exotic oils and creams.

The cruise ship spas have gotten quite creative. They now offer couples massages where you and your partner are in the same room with different massage therapists. Then there are four hand massages where two people work on you at the same time. Some of the cruise lines offer in suite massages and some even have massages on the deck.

By far the highest percentage of staff are women but there a few men. If you have a preference between male or female spa technicians, state it when you make your appointment. Some people are uncomfortable lying naked on a table with a therapist of the opposite sex. Check the cruise ships policy on tipping. Some cruise lines automatically tack on a 15% charge to your bill while on others you may have to pay in cash. To save embarrassment, check at the time you make your appointments.

There are three lines that allow you to make your spa appoints before boarding the ship. Princess, Windstar and Celebrity all offer this option. In some cases they even have packages that you can book in advance. Be careful here though, they may give you some very early morning appointments which means you have to go and change them on the very first day. This is not the best policy since they should be giving you prime appointments for booking ahead.

Beauty salons will offer a full array of services. You can have your nails done, your hair colored or hand and foot treatments aside from just a trim. Most of the beauty salons have Europeans staffs. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Places like Austria require their beauty students to go to the equivalent of our college.

See, it is possible to turn your cruise into a spa vacation or physical fitness week. Just follow what your trainer or your beauty technicians tell you and eat the spa cuisine. You’ve just achieved three goals, a little bit of pampering, a fitness regime, and a light and healthy diet. This may be a new way for you to view cruise travel.

Happy Cruising!

Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

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Under South Carolina law there are a number of provisions that allow for the cancellation of a physical fitness contract. These provisions include a three-day right to rescind, relocation, injury, and death. If you have any questions about physical fitness contracts or other consumer issues, please contact the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs at 800-922-1594.

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Mary Hanna has traveled the world by Air and Ship while writing eBooks, Software Reviews and Practical Articles on Internet Marketing, Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at: http://www.CruiseGold.com http://www.CruiseTravelDirectory.com and http://www.CruisingTips.com

Military Physical Fitness Test standards provide valuable information and guidelines for all fitness enthusiasts. What better way to test yourself than by using tests that gauge the readiness of soldiers in the best military in the world? Military Physical Fitness Tests (PFTs) have been established for each branch of the military and can help you set challenging goals for yourself while also motivating you by tracking your progression.Here are a few of the toughest Physical Fitness Test standards in the military (these aren’t all of the necessary standards and some are required for entry into some of the programs, not the programs themselves):

Army Green Beret

• 2-Mile Run – Minimum: 12-14 min
• Max Push Ups in 2 Minutes – Minimum: 100
• Max Sit Ups in 2 Minutes – Minimum: 100

Army Ranger

• Max Push Ups in 2 Minutes – Minimum: 49 (Competitive: 80)
• Max Sit Ups in 2 Minutes – Minimum: 59 (Competitive: 80)
• Max Pull Ups – Minimum: 6 (Competitive: 12)
• 2-Mile Run – Minimum: 15 min 12 sec (Competitive: Sub 13 min)
• 5-Mile Run – Minimum: 40 min (Competitive: 35 min)
• 16-Mile hike w/65lb pack – 5 hrs 20 min (Competitive: 4-5 hrs)

Marine Recon

• Max Pull Ups – Minimum: 20
• Max Sit Ups/2 min – Minimum: 80
• 3-Mile Run – Minimum: 18 min
• 10-Mile Hike w/50lb Pack – Minimum: Sub-2 hrs

Navy SEALs

• Swim 500 Yards – Minimum: 12 min 30 sec (Competitive: 8-9 min)
• Max Push Ups in 2 Minutes – Minimum: 42 (Competitive: 100)
• Max Sit Ups in 2 Minutes – Minimum: 52 (Competitive: 100)
• Max Pull Ups – Minimum: 8 (Competitive: 15-20)
• 1.5-Mile Run – Minimum: 11 min 30 sec (Competitive: 9-10 min)

The above list was created to create a guideline for fitness enthusiasts, not military personnel. The omission of other military requirements were intended to avoid confusing readers.

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Watch as a fitness expert teaches you how to do a bicep curl that helps seniors strengthen muscles in this free exercise video for seniors.Expert: Manny Castro Bio: Manny Castro received his BS in Health Education/ Exercise Physiology and Ahtletic Training from Florida International University, and completed several internships in cardiac rehab, and strength and Filmmaker: Manuel Castro

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About the Author: Mark de is a co-owner of www.MBodyStrength.com, an Orange County based fitness company that focuses on unconventional training methods, including kettlebell training. Check out free articles, free exercise videos, free workout plans, and a fitness equipment store including equipment, dvds, supplements and more.

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Physical fitness is the capacity to function productively throughout your workday, carrry out your normal responsibilities and still have enough energy left over to handle any extra stresses or emergencies which may pop up.

The aspects of fitness you should keep in mind are:

*  Cardiorespiratory (CR) endurance – the efficiency with which the body transports oxygen and nutrients required for muscular activity and transports waste products from the cells.

*  Muscular endurance – the ability of a muscle or muscle group to perform repeated movements with a sub-maximal force for extended periods of times.

*  Muscular strength – the biggest amount of force a muscle or muscle group can use in a single effort.

*  Flexibility – the capability to move the joints or any combination of joints through an entire, normal range of motion.

*  Body composition – the percentage of body fat a person has in comparison to his or her total body mass.

Improving the first three components of fitness listed above will have a positive impact on body composition and will result in a reduction of. Excessive body fat can negate from the other fitness aspects, reduces performance, detracts from appearance, and adveresely affects your health.

Factors such as speed, agility, muscle power, eye-hand coordination, and eye-foot coordination are labelled as aspects of “motor” fitness. These factors most affect your athletic capability. Appropriate work on it can improve these factors within the limits of your potential. A practical weight loss and fitness plan seeks to make better or hold all the components of physical and motor fitness through sensible, progressive, mission specific physical training.

Principles of Exercise

Adherence to certain basic exercise elements is important for building an effective program. The same elements of exercise apply to everyone at all levels of physical training, from the pro football player to the weekend jogger.

These are:

Recurrence

To achieve results, you must exercise often. You should practice each of the first four fitness components at least three times a week. Non regular exercise can be damaging. Regularity is also important in resting, sleeping, and eating well.

Progression

The intensity (how hard) and/or length (how long) of exercise must gradually increase to improve the level of fitness.

Balance

To work, a program should include activities that address all the fitness components, since concentrating too much on any one of them may hurt the others.

Variety

Providing a variety of activities reduces boredom and improves motivation and progress.

Specificity

Training must be focused toward specific goals. For example, people become better runners if their training emphasizes running. Although swimming is great exercise, it does not improve a 2-mile-run time as much as a running program would.

Recovery

A hard day of training for a given component of fitness should be followed by an easier training day or rest day for that aspect and/or muscle group(s) to encourage recovery. Another way to recover is to vary the muscle groups exercised every other day, especially when focusing for strength and/or muscle endurance.

Overload

The work load of each exercise

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Video content created by Fomos, and originally uploaded at Daum.net. I re-uploaded it here so non-Korean fans could watch it without having to wait an hour for the video to buffer. Here’s the video’s description (at SCForAll, where I found the video): This video was done yesterday at the Pro Gamers educational class. They learned many things, but this video focuses mainly on physical fitness, as they had a female instructor showing them the way. On a more important note, you can see such …

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Find out about training tips towards getting the six pack abdominals you always wanted at http://mysixpackstory.net.