5 Cardio Exercises for People who have difficulty Exercising

Large and heavy people often have difficulty exercising because they get sore joints, they have very low endurance, they feel embarrassed, etc.

But cardio exercises like running, jogging, etc are very beneficial for people looking to lose weight. Thus it becomes a whole Catch-22 wherein they feel they are "too fat to jog" and thus feel demotivated to exercise.

And they're not alone.

Elderly people with sore knees find jogging too painful on their legs, women with very large breasts cannot find sports bras in their sizes that give them enough support get sore backs and chest pain / sore armpits when trying to jog.

And then there are people who might be suffering from a sports injury that makes it too difficult for them to jog. eg. An ankle injury.

Thus I have come up with this list of 5 Cardio Exercises for People who have difficulty Exercising

#1. Swimming - Call it the beauty of swimming, but it is great for exercise as it uses as much or as little effort as you feel like putting into it, and you can do it slowly or quickly depending on your endurance - and it is safe for people with knee injuries and won't be problematic for women with large breasts.

A 300 lb person doing moderate swimming for 60 minutes will burn approx. 690 calories.

#2. Cycling - This might be trickier for people with sore knees or ankle injuries (it can still be done, but take it slower and don't put excess force on your knees or ankles), but it won't be a problem for people who are heavier or have large breasts.

A 300 lb person doing leisure cycling for 60 minutes will burn approx. 450 calories.

#3. Household Chores - Honestly this is a long list and includes everything from washing windows to washing the car, gardening to shoveling snow, scrubbing floors to cleaning out the garage. These activities burn calories and you can do them at your own pace, so you can take it easy - which means you get a workout and a clean home too.

A 300 lb person washing their car for 60 minutes will burn approx. 510 calories.

#4. Power Walking / Hiking / Walking the Dog - Assuming that your knees / ankles are okay with walking, you should also be able to go for "Power Walks" or hikes. Avoid long walks if you have low endurance, and keep it short if you find you have problems with your ankles or knees. If you have a dog try to take them for a short walk twice per day.

A 300 lb person walking the dog for 60 minutes at 2 mph will burn approx. 315 calories.

#5. Dancing - Again if you have ankle or knee injuries, stick to slow dances. Signing up dance lessons or joining a dancing group might be one of the best decisions you've ever made.

A 300 lb person doing leisure dancing for 60 minutes will burn approx. 345 calories.

Burning 3500 calories = shedding 1 lb of fat. It takes time, but you can do it.

NOTE - Depending on your circumstances I strongly recommend consulting a doctor before signing yourself up for anything strenuous. Stick to lighter exercises when in doubt.

Winter Archery Practice

During January and February I sometimes go to the archery range to get some personal practice in. I don't teach archery during the winter, but whenever there is a day where the weather is nice it is fun to go and get some extra practice in.

The trick about practicing archery in the winter is whether or not your aim is good enough that you are not missing any shots and having to search for your arrows in the snow.

If you're lucky the snow will have a thick icy layer on top and your arrows will just skitter across the top.

Another problem is that there is no winter maintenance of the target butts - which means they look pretty decrepit during the winter. You have to aim your shots in the corner so you aren't aiming near the softer middle sections of the target butts - where there is often either a gaping hole or material so soft your arrow goes straight through and keeps going.

Because it is so cold outside I strongly recommend wearing multiple layers of clothing. eg. On this particular day I was wearing a t-shirt, a sweater, a hoodie, an outdoor vest, a jacket, a neck warmer, hat and gloves.

Alternatively you can also go to a longer range - 50 yards for example - and practice there instead. But you had best have really good aim if you want to be shooting at that distance and hitting the target with tight clusters.

I have even made a series of fun videos of myself doing archery in the winter, shown below, wherein I was shooting a snowman for fun.

How to Lose Weight while Eating in Restaurants

The problem with restaurants and eating out is that the average meal in a restaurant is so packed with calories that you are guaranteed to pack on the pounds if you are eating out in restaurants regularly.

Especially if you go to a fast food place like McDonalds where even the tiniest burgers are packed with hundreds of calories.

But it is possible to eat at restaurants and still lose weight. And I am going to tell you how...

#1. Soups.

Soups and stews are often overlooked on menus, when in reality they are often the healthiest things on the menu. A good veggie stew, with some chicken, beef or mutton in there will be a very nutritious and filling meal.

#2. Salads.

Salads can be very high on the nutrition - as long as you don't put too much salad dressing on there. Your best option is to eat your salad "vanilla", which means without any dressing at all on there. Just skip the dressing and you will be doing yourself a favor. Also skip the fake bacon bits (they're high in sodium).

#3. Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurants

Honestly, this is a great way to make sure you are getting a good healthy meal. Find vegan restaurants like Rawlicious in your neighbourhood. Toronto has several Rawlicious locations to choose from, but they also have locations in Markham and other towns near Toronto. There is also:

Blu Ristorante
Fresh
Paisano's Italian Garden Cafe
Kwality Sweets & Restaurant
Ho Su Bistro
Brar's Sweets
Freshly Made Catering
Mt. Everest Restaurant
Bistro Grande

So yeah, no shortage of Vegan restaurants in Toronto to choose from.

#4. Veggie Stirfry

If you see veggie stirfry on the menu then that is certainly an option. It will have a little bit of fat in there, but it will be mostly vegetables and will be a tasty option.

#5. Lean Meat

If you do opt for something on the meatier side of things aim for something has very lean meat in it. The leaner the better. Greasy bacon = Bad. A nice lean steak = Good. So if you see "steak and veggies" on the menu that is a good healthy option.

#6. Juice Vs Smoothies

Lets face it, wheatgrass drinks are not for everyone. I know wheatgrass is healthy, but I grew up on a farm and the stuff tastes horribly like eating weeds. And juice may seem like a healthy choice but is often packed with extra sugar. But if you see smoothies on the menu - eg. a mango smoothie - then you are in luck. Pick the smoothie!

CONCLUSIONS

Soups, salads, think veggies, lean meat and smoothies. Proof that you can eat healthy when eating out. You just have to learn how and practice some willpower when it comes to making smart and healthy menu decisions.

Exercises to Treat Male Pattern Baldness - Real or Hoax?

Q

"Hello!

I read with interest your posts about nose exercises and how you can change the shape of your nose. I was wondering if you have heard anything about exercises or massages or diet plans you can do to either prevent male pattern baldness or to regrow hair where you now have a bald spot?

Thanks!

JCL"

A

Hello JCL!

I am afraid that so-called hair growth exercises are a complete hoax.

Same goes with massages. Complete hoax designed to get people to buy anti-baldness cream or similar products.

Diet plans on the other hand can help you to grow hair faster - but only in places where you already have hair.

I will tell you something I heard years ago. Most men who worry about baldness are worried that they will be less attractive to women. And YET most women don't care about baldness, what they care about is men who take care of themselves. That means exercising regularly, being well-groomed, cleanliness, nice/clean clothes, taking care in their appearance - and presumably also cleaning their home regularly and taking care of their mental well-being.

The articles JCL was referring to are:

Nose Exercises Vs Rhinoplasty

Nose Exercises - Fixing a Crooked Nose

Nose Exercises - Do you actually need them or are you being paranoid about your nose?

Dealing with Archer's Elbow / Tennis Elbow

I recently learned I had what is historically known as Archer's Elbow - which by modern standards is known as Tennis Elbow.

Tennis elbow or archer's elbow is a sports injury wherein the outer part of the elbow becomes sore and tender because the area has become inflamed - I have this in both my elbows. It is often associated with playing tennis, badminton, golf and similar sports which involve using the elbows a lot.

Archer's / Tennis elbow can also be caused by repetitive strain and often effects mouse / keyboard users, mountain climbers, and even people who work with their hands a lot (like carpenters).

Why does Archery cause it?

When you draw a bow, both elbows go under extreme pressure and strain.

Your bow arm elbow has to be fully extended out in front of you and held dead still.  It is your extensor muscles and tendons that are responsible for your stable positioning.  To draw the string back, it is your flexor muscles and tendons that do most of the work.  Archer’s elbow injuries are most common in your bow arm simply because your outer forearm/elbow muscles and tendons are not as strong and powerful as your inner flexor muscles. But you can also get Archer's Elbow in your drawing elbow because of the strain it requires to hold the bow steady.

Lastly when you release the bowstring there is a lot of shock and vibrations that travel through your arms and your elbows are more vulnerable.

Prevention

#1. Switch to a lighter poundage of bow or even better, switch to a compound bow that has a let off.

#2. Get dampeners and stabilizers for your bow, they will reduce shock damage.

#3. Do elbow strengthening exercises. Just make sure they are specific for tennis elbow injuries and they will work well for both prevention and treatment.

Archer's / Tennis Elbow Treatment

Physical therapy.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen or aspirin.

Using heat or cold wraps.

Using a brace or strap to reduce the strain on the elbow.

Elbow Strengthening Exercises

Browse Google images to see a variety of different elbow strengthening exercises.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=tennis+elbow+exercises&tbm=isch

Remember while doing these exercises to not squeeze anything too hard and if you are experiencing pain, then you are doing it wrong. Remember light grip and no pain.

Exercise Quotes for February

"To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable." - Oscar Wilde, before he died at the age of 46.

"Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far." - Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826).

"Exercise alone provides psychological and physical benefits. However, if you also adopt a strategy that engages your mind while you exercise, you can get a whole host of psychological benefits fairly quickly." - James Rippe, M.D.

"Dig where the gold is…unless you just need some exercise." - John M. Capozzi.

"Extreme exercise doesn’t save you from poor food choices. It can be difficult to exercise and erase away that chocolate cake or pizza pie. It doesn’t work that way." - Jennifer Hudson.

"To resist the frigidity of old age one must combine the body, the mind and the heart - and to keep them in parallel vigor one must exercise, study and love." - Karl von Bonstetten.

"Exercise ferments the humors, casts them into their proper channels, throws off redundancies, and helps nature in those secret distributions, without which the body cannot subsist in its vigor, nor the soul act with cheerfulness." - Joseph Addison.

"Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself." - Elie Wiesel.

"Why do strong arms fatigue themselves with frivolous dumbbells? To dig a vineyard is worthier exercise for men." - Marcus Valerius Martialis (40 AD - 103 AD).

Note - I could not believe the above quote is real. Did they really have dumbbells 20 centuries ago??? So I decided to do some research, and yes, they really did have dumbbells that many centuries ago. Below are some dumbbells (known as Halteres) from Ancient Greece. They look very different, but not so different as to be unrecognizable. So I learned something today. Huzzah!

What does it take to become an Olympic archer?

Q

"I am from venezuela, I have nine years practicing archery and I love this sport, it's part of my life...

All coaches left my country to other countries by the abuse and the low value given to them, I have a few years of training without a coach, in 2010 I traveled to Canada to my grandmother's house and told him all the things I passed in archery in my country and she took me to an archery in calgary and helped me to buy a bow ( hoyt Alpha Burner) and talk to a Canadian coach to train me.

thanks to that I improve a lot and achieve shoot 1348 points, I know it's not much but fight hard to achieve...

I want to be an excellent archer, that's my goal, you could guide me, because I want to go to canada and become a excellent Canadia archer, what i have to do? there is a chance?

Please. Any help you can give me is appreciated."

Luis R.

A

Hello Luis!

Honestly you have three choices. And two of them will be quite expensive.

You either train yourself, which will cost less and require you to be doing archery 3-6 times per week.

Or you hire an archery coach to train you several times per week, which will cost you about $180 to $240 per week. (Roughly $9,000 to $12,000 per year.)

Or you could even hire a former Olympian archer to train you, which will be about $20,000 per year ($400 per week).

So yeah, it really depends on whether you want to pay for training or focus on self-improvement / Do It Yourself.

Sincerely,
Charles Moffat
CardioTrek.ca

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In other news Arnold Schwarzenegger recently went "undercover" at Gold's Gym in California to raise awareness about fitness / health and an after school fitness program.

Rob Ford's Weight Loss Plan

It is an election year in Toronto and Rob Ford thinks he can win the October 27th 2014 election and stay mayor of Toronto - if he can just lose some weight.

"The only way people are going to respect me, to bring back my image, is if I lose weight," says Rob Ford. "The rest falls into place."

And in case you haven't been watching lately, Toronto's crack smoking mayor (soon to be former crack smoking mayor?) has lost roughly 40 lbs since mid November 2013 when he was weighing in at 336 lbs and is now weighing in at roughly 295 lbs.

That is 41 lbs in 2 months. Roughly 9 weeks. A little over 4 lbs per week.

If he keeps going at that rate he is going to be 255 lbs by mid March - and have excess loose skin rolling off of him.

If he kept it up he could even be 205 lbs by mid May. In which case the loose skin around his face is going to become like Diefenbaker's jowls.

My thoughts? Slow down. Lose weight more slowly. Wait for your skin to catch up. If you lose weight too quickly your belly skin will end up looking like an apron.

So what exactly is Rob Ford doing in the gym you might ask?

Well Toronto's mayor, who has described himself in the past as "three hundred pounds of fun", is using the gym at Toronto City Hall almost every day and is also:

Jogging outdoors.

Leg Pressing 810 lbs.

Ford is really good at the leg press and also says he aims to one day leg press 1,000 pounds.

“If I do my bi(ceps)s on Monday, say, then I’ll do my legs Tuesday, chest Thursday, back, and so on, all week,” says Rob Ford.

He is doing a combination of cardio for 45 minutes and weight lifting exercises for another 45 minutes.

To put that in perspective a 295 lb person jogging for 45 minutes (without a break) burns 996 calories. We can assume that he is having breaks, so it will be less than that - possible 600 to 700 calories. The same person doing weightlifting for 45 minutes burns 305 calories.

So we are looking at Rob Ford burning about 900 to 1000 calories per 90 minute workout session. No wonder he is losing 20 lbs per month.

Note - This kind of workout is really difficult. Most people would quit within the first couple of weeks. Having a personal trainer to keep you motivated makes a huge difference in keeping motivated and striving for more.

Politics aside, if Rob Ford can go into the 2014 election "lean, mean and clean" he will have a lot more energy for the campaign and be able to put his best foot forward when it comes to trying and convince people he has changed his ways and is deserving of being re-elected.

Building your Dumbbell Collection

If you are looking to put on muscle then having a dumbbell collection at home is a good must-have.

Below is a photo of my personal collection of dumbbells which I use for weightlifting at home.

Also in the photo is my weightlifting gloves. They are my "Atlas" weightlifting gloves, which I sometimes also use for cycling outdoors, and also my "Copper Canyon Cycling" gloves, which are basically identical to the Atlas weightlifting gloves. It doesn't really matter what brand you buy, the gloves are there to protect your hands so you don't hurt yourself / develop painful callouses. The gloves cost about $10 to $15 and are totally worth it.

All the dumbbells shown here were purchased at Canadian Tire - they cost about $1 per pound. Thus if you are doing the math I have spent $105 + tax on my dumbbell collection. Plus an extra $30 on gloves.

Once you have your dumbbell collection, what do you do with them?

#1. Bicep Curls

This is easy. Just do 8 to 10 repetitions. Rest. Repeat 8 to 10 repetitions. Rest. Keep doing that 5 to 10 times. Doing between 40 to 100 reps of bicep curls every 2nd day (combined with a healthy balanced diet) will help you build bicep strength pretty quickly.


#2. Tricep Raises

Using one or two dumbbells lift your arms above your head and lower your the dumbbell(s) behind your head. Lift it back above your head slowly. Lower. Repeat 8 to 10 times. Rest. Repeat 5 to 10 times. Doing this exercise every 2 days will build up your tricep muscles quickly.

#3. Shoulder Raises

Using a lighter dumbbell - something you can handle more easily - hold the dumbbells at your sides and lift sideways until they are at 90 degrees. Lower slower back to your side. Repeat 10 times. Rest. Repeat the exercise 5 to 10 times. This exercise will build shoulder strength quite rapidly.

Taken together these 3 exercises will help you build strength in your arms and shoulders quite rapidly - but they should not be the only exercises you are doing. Push ups, chin ups, and sit ups are nice additions to the above 3 weightlifting exercises. The push ups will build your arms, shoulders and pecs. The chin ups will build your arms, shoulders, back and pecs. The sit ups will build your abdominal muscles.

Weightlifting Tips

Pay attention to your form. Good form avoids injury and builds muscle faster.

Stick to dumbbells you can use. If they are too heavy for you to complete all the exercises then you need to be using a lighter poundage.

Explore other exercises too, including other ways to utilize your dumbbells. Examples include the Zottman Curl, Y Press (lifting the dumbbells to make your body into a Y shape),

If you experience any severe pain stop immediately. Wait two days before weightlifting again. Excessive weightlifting can cause severe muscle fatigue - which can lead to injury and chronic pain.

Eat a protein bar or protein shake after finishing your weightlifting routine.

Eat healthy - including veggies and protein! Weightlifting without eating healthy is like buying a muscle car, but forgetting to buy gasoline. Your body needs fuel to grow muscle.

Challenge yourself. If your dumbbells feel too light, it is time to get a dumbbell that is 5 lbs heavier. Don't overdo it, but aim to challenge yourself physically.