24-Hour Fitness: Yorba Linda Super Sport

24-Hour Fitness: Yorba Linda Super Sport Helps make your gym experience fun, effective and easy while helping people of all fitness levels reach their goals.

What Parts of the Body Does Jogging Target?Regular physical activity is crucial for maintaining a healthy weight and ens...
08/06/2015

What Parts of the Body Does Jogging Target?

Regular physical activity is crucial for maintaining a healthy weight and ensuring physical health. Jogging is one of the easiest ways for people to get in shape or amp up their current fitness routine, regardless of fitness level or experience. As a full-body workout, jogging targets all eight major muscle groups of the body, specifically the glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves and abdominals.

Primary Muscles
The primary muscles used in running are the quads, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors and calves. Unsurprisingly, these muscles are all located from the waist down. During the course of a long or particularly intense run, you can definitely feel them at work. Runners often develop disproportionately strong quads in comparison to the rest of their bodies, so supplementing jogging with toe raises or leg presses often helps balance the hamstrings, calves and glutes with the quads. Be sure to stretch your legs before and after each run; when the quads, hamstrings and calves tighten up, they can create posture problems and muscle imbalances that affect your gait, joints and lower back.

Secondary Muscles
The secondary muscles used in running are the biceps, upper abs and lower abs. Although the biceps seems like an odd muscle to include, running is more efficient when the elbow is bent at a 90-degree angle, which brings the biceps muscles into play. The abdominal muscles support the trunk, helping to stabilize the spine and maintain correct posture, which is vital for maximizing efficiency and minimizing injury while running.

Heart Health
Jogging -- and even brisk walking -- has been proven to help reduce chances for heart disease. It strengthens your heart and cardiovascular system, improves circulation, lowers blood pressure and strengthens bones. As you run, your heart works harder to distribute oxygen and nutrients throughout your body, becoming more efficient over time.

Common Injuries
While jogging is a great form of exercise, it is not without its risks. The repeated impact of your foot hitting the ground can lead to stress fractures, inflammation and small tears in muscle tissue. Blisters and chafing are common complaints as well. However, always remembering to warm up, cool down and properly stretch can prevent most injuries. Developing correct form and technique can help you avoid problems down the road, and avoid upping mileage by more than 10 percent at a time to prevent stress-related injuries.

How to Make Workouts Less BoringVariety is the spice of life -- and of exercise. There are few things that can end up fe...
08/05/2015

How to Make Workouts Less Boring

Variety is the spice of life -- and of exercise. There are few things that can end up feeling more routine than your morning run or your evening gym session. But it doesn't have to be that way, and, in fact, it shouldn't, because not only will a little variety and fun make you more likely to stick with your fitness program, it can also make your workouts more effective.

Spice Up the Gym
Step 1
Vary your intensity and volume. The gym can get boring fast if you’re doing three sets of eight to 12 repetitions of every exercise. On your next visit, try doing four sets of four or five reps with heavier weight. Then have an endurance day by performing 15 to 20 reps of everything. These variations spice up your workout and get you better results by challenging your muscles in new ways.

Step 2
Experiment with new workouts each session. Gyms have a host of machines and equipment you probably haven’t tried, so branch out with at least one new exercise per workout, or do the same exercise with different equipment, such as using kettlebells instead of dumbbells. This will keep you and your body guessing.

Step 3
Move quickly. If it’s not your power-lifting day, you probably spend more time resting between sets and exercises than you need. Decreasing downtime will make even easy workouts harder and more effective, as well as elevate your heart rate and metabolism -- and get you out of the gym faster. It’s hard to feel bored when your heart is pounding.

Rejuvenate Your Cardio
Step 1
Change up your go-to pace. If you jog, spin or swim easily for one hour every session, spend one workout per week exhausting yourself in 20 or 30 minutes or by trying interval training. Doing aerobics at different levels of intensity will help you burns carbs as well as fat, get better results and, of course, banish monotony.

Step 2
Play games while you work. If you’re on a treadmill or elliptical and watching sports, pick a team and think of them as your workout buddies. Go easy when they go easy and go hard when they go hard. If you’re the competitive type and there is no TV, pretend you’re racing against someone nearby. These kinds of games are fun, and they increase your focus and determination.

Step 3
Forge a new way. If you take your cardio to the road, start your journey by going in a direction you’ve never run or cycled before. As you progress off your beaten path, your mind will have to work on keeping you oriented and remembering how to get back, not on how much you would rather be on the couch.

How Do Lunges Help Your Thighs?"Shape" calls lunges the quintessential exercise for legs because you can do them anywher...
08/04/2015

How Do Lunges Help Your Thighs?

"Shape" calls lunges the quintessential exercise for legs because you can do them anywhere and see results quickly. Lunges not only strengthen and tone your leg muscles, but they also strengthen your hips and glutes. You use your core muscles to stabilize your body during the lunge movement, providing the added benefit of a midsection workout. When performed correctly, lunges also can improve flexibility and balance. With all of these benefits, the thighs are still the biggest benefactors of regular lunges.

Strong Thighs
Lunges strengthen all major muscles in the thighs -- quads, hamstrings and inner thighs. To really build strength, add resistance with dumbbells, a barbell or resistance bands. Some women avoid doing exercises to strengthen their legs because they worry about getting a bulky look; however, lunges alone won't increase the size of your thighs unless you perform a very high number of repetitions. Incorporate three sets of 12 to 15 repetitions on each leg two days a week into a well-rounded fitness routine to simply strengthen and tone your thighs. If your goal is to build more muscle in your thighs, use a heavier weight and do four sets of 15 to 20 reps.

Tighten and Tone
Bodyweight exercises like lunges burn more calories than many exercises because they incorporate multiple muscle groups at once. Even though it's not possible to spot-reduce fat in your thighs, lunges and a good cardio routine can help you get smaller thighs. As lunges increase lean muscle mass in your thighs, you will burn more calories, even at rest. To maximize your thigh workout, add in three sets of squats. Combining these exercises works your thigh muscles from different angles and increases the amount of calories you burn.

Proper Lunges
The key to getting the most out of any exercise is proper form. To perform a basic lunge, stand straight with your shoulders back and your legs hip-width apart. Step forward with your right foot, placing your right knee above your ankle, and drop the back knee toward the ground. Stop when both knees bend at a 90-degree angle, return to the starting position and switch legs. Complete three sets of 15 repetitions to get maximum results.

Watch Your Knees
A common mistake people make when performing lunges is allowing their front knee go forward past their toe. If you have experienced any pain in your knees during lunges or if you have painful knees in general, try a variation on the basic lunge: reverse lunges. Do these using the same form as in a basic lunge, except you step back with one foot, rather than forward, to get into the lunge position. Reverse lunges provide the same benefits to your thighs and are an excellent alternative for beginners.

Body Movements for Throwing a DiscusThe discus throw uses the lower body to rotate you, creating a force that your upper...
08/03/2015

Body Movements for Throwing a Discus

The discus throw uses the lower body to rotate you, creating a force that your upper body will then need to control and direct in the discus. Your core also plays an important part in the movement, keeping the body stable and balanced. Knowing the movements of the discus throw also allows you to direct your training to focus on the most important muscle groups used in the discus throw.

Muscle Movements to Make You Dizzy
The first step of the discus throw requires you to rotate your body. This “swinging” of your body about your spine uses a large handful of muscle groups, primarily located in the upper thigh region. Specifically, these motions rotate the pelvis and thigh to create centripetal force. Because athletes do not perform the preliminary swings standing perfectly straight, leg muscles also come into play. The bent-knee stance you hold during the swings also requires your thigh muscles to contract.

A Weak Core Will Not Suffice
After you have gained momentum from the swinging movement, you will shift your weight twice. First, you will lift your lead leg off the ground, which requires the contraction of your calf muscles. You use those muscles again in the trail leg when you switch your weight again, coming full circle after your swing. When you land on your trail foot and switch your weight the second time, many of your core muscles, such as your abs and back muscles, come into play to stop your body from rotating any farther.

The Final Movement Is to Stop
Once you’ve landed and braced your body, you will switch to upper body movements. Your discus arm, which was behind your body during the whole motion, will now come to the front. To rotate your arm from the back of your body to the front at your desired angle, you will engage many shoulder and upper body muscles. Throughout this motion, your forearm muscles are hard at work keeping a firm grip on the discus. These muscles finally relax when you release the discus.

Empower Your Throw in the Gym
Without muscular power, your discus throw won’t go far. Training your body for the discus throw will require you to train with a full-body workout. Incorporate compound lifts that engage the shoulder and upper arm muscles; example exercises include the upright row, incline bench press, rear lateral raise and rear delt row. Also add lower body and core exercises such as leg presses, one-arm high rows, calf presses, twisting situps, glute-ham raises, straight leg raises and rear lunges. Finally, don’t forget to work on your forearms to improve your grip and stability. Include exercises such as the reverse curl, hammer curl, wrist curl and reverse wrist curl.

What Is a Medicine Ball Tuck Jump?A medicine ball tuck jump is an advanced, high-impact exercise to improve the strength...
07/31/2015

What Is a Medicine Ball Tuck Jump?

A medicine ball tuck jump is an advanced, high-impact exercise to improve the strength and power of your legs. The tuck jump on its own is a challenging exercise, but the added weight of the medicine ball increases the intensity of the jump. The medicine ball also removes the help of your arms, which places more emphasis in your legs. The jump is a progressive exercise, and by changing one part of the movement you'll be able to keep it as an effective part of your workout routine for years to come.

Plyometric
The medicine ball tuck jump is a plyometric exercise, which means it is a jump-training movement. The difference between plyometrics and other exercises is the pre-stretch of the muscle fibers before the muscular contraction. The pre-stretch allows for a greater contraction of the muscles, which leads to bigger strength and power gains.

Medicine Ball
You can use the weight of your body during the tuck jump, but after time you'll need a greater resistance to see continued results. A medicine ball is easy to hold with its vinyl, nylon, leather or rubber coating. The balls come in various weights ranging from 1 to 50 pounds, so you are able to increase the difficulty of your tuck jump as your strength improves. Select your first medicine ball weight at an amount that lets you keep proper form and slightly slows down your tuck jump.

Tuck Jump
You won't need any other equipment than the medicine ball for the tuck jump. The jump begins from a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold the medicine ball with your arms straight over your head. Tighten your stomach to protect your back, then exhale as you jump and pull your knees toward your chest. Land in the starting position and immediately repeat the jump. Aim to complete eight to 10 tuck jumps.

Variation
When your medicine ball tuck jumps are easy, it's time to increase the challenge of the exercise. You can do this by to increasing the weight of your medicine ball, or performing the jump on one leg. Begin by standing tall with your feet shoulder-width apart. Shift your weight onto your right leg and bend your left knee to raise your left foot behind you. Perform a single-leg tuck jump by jumping and pulling your right knee toward your chest. It is important to train both legs equally, so complete the same number of jumps on each leg.

Fitness Program for BeginnersAdding a fitness program to your life is an excellent lifestyle change that can improve you...
07/30/2015

Fitness Program for Beginners

Adding a fitness program to your life is an excellent lifestyle change that can improve your physical and emotional health. If you're a beginner and have been sedentary, it's important to make slow changes that allow you to safely and successfully transition from being inactive to active. Whether your fitness goal is to lose weight, tone muscles or both, you can achieve them by incorporating exercise into your life.

Getting Started
Before you start your fitness program, there are a few things you should do to prepare yourself for a plan that leads to success. A visit to your healthcare provider should be at the top of your list. Your doctor can discuss the types of exercises you can do and give the okay to exercise. Once you're ready to start, begin slowly - no matter what the recommended amounts of exercise are. It's better to get through ten minutes of exercise per day and feel good about your accomplishment than to struggle through one hour of exercise and suffer for days afterward. Wear comfortable clothing and footwear that are appropriate for the exercises you choose. If you plan to start off with something simple like walking or riding your bike, a pair of cross-trainers will be a good choice.

Cardiovascular Exercise
Cardiovascular exercise, or aerobic exercise, is excellent for heart health, weight loss and weight maintenance. This heart-pumping exercise burns calories while strengthening the heart muscle. It's recommended that you engage in 150 to 300 minutes of cardio per week. As a beginner, you may want to start out with a lot less. Aim for 15 minutes or so of daily cardio exercise to start, and add another five minutes to your cardio time each week. In time, you'll find yourself within the recommended range. Effective cardio workouts include the following: swimming, stationary bike and aerobics. Always start and finish your cardio workout with a five- to ten-minute warm up and cooldown.

Strength Training Exercises
You don't need to have a goal of getting big, buff muscles to incorporate strength training into your fitness program. Doing weight-bearing exercises increases your muscle mass, gives you a toned, slender look and helps you maintain bone density. Two to three strength training sessions per week that last about 20 minutes each are sufficient for gaining muscle strength and bone density. You can do these types of exercise with weights or with your body weight. Start out with simple exercises like lunges and squats for the leg, hip and butt muscles. Add trunk rotations for your abdominal muscles, and bicep curls, triceps kickbacks and lateral raises for your arms, chest and back.

Flexibility Exercises
Flexibility exercises are a vital part of any fitness program because they help you maintain a full range of motion by keeping your muscles and joints limber. Like strength training exercises, you only need to do flexibility exercises two to three times per week. A ten minute session of stretching is sufficient to help keep your muscles loose and flexible. Tack on stretching exercises to the end of your cardio routine since your body will already be warmed up. Flexibility moves such as reaching for the sky, toe-touchers, and calf and thigh stretches will work wonders to help you avoid tight muscles and a decreased range of motion.

Does a Muscle Ache Mean a Good Workout?A muscle ache after a workout can be an uncomfortable but oddly satisfying sensat...
07/29/2015

Does a Muscle Ache Mean a Good Workout?

A muscle ache after a workout can be an uncomfortable but oddly satisfying sensation that makes you feel like you knocked that session out of the park. That's often the case -- muscle ache can definitely indicate that you worked hard and your body is responding. However, there are also times that muscle soreness can indicate problems with your training. It's important to be able to distinguish between the types of ache so you can manage your workouts well and keep your body in top condition

Blame The Lactate
Working out can cause a buildup of lactate in the muscles. This is generally the mark of a good, intense workout. However, contrary to the popular belief, lactate (or lactic acid buildup) doesn't cause muscle ache in the hours and days after your workout -- it causes the burning sensation in your muscles during your workout. This burning ache is caused during high-intensity workouts by glucose being broken down into the chemical pyruvate when the body needs sustained energy, and pyruvate being converted to lactate when the body needs an even quicker energy boost.

Bring On The DOMS
DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness, is a very common experience for anyone acquainted with exercise. It tends to be indicative of a high-intensity workout that challenged the body beyond what it is accustomed to. Generally speaking, this is a good thing when not done in every workout session. DOMS is thought to be caused by a combination of factors: microtears that occur in the muscle during your workout, inflammation in joints and muscles unused to the level of exercise intensity and chemical and hormonal responses to high-intensity stimulation.

Don't Go For Overkill
Overtraining has been gaining recognition in the medical and sports fields in recent years, due to athlete exhaustion and poor performance. Muscle aches after workouts can be indicative of overtraining, particularly if the aches take more than three days to go away or are a constant outcome from your workouts. Overtraining is relatively rare, according to Dr. Steven Keteyian in an article from the "New York Times," but if you are pushing yourself extremely hard on a regular basis and have recently noticed drops in your performance, general energy and mood, chances are you need to dial your training down for a couple of weeks to recover.

Injury Blues
Muscle ache can also be the result of an injury, in which case you need to take time off from your workouts to recover. Persistent pain in a particular muscle, both during and after workouts, tends to indicate an injury and must be addressed in order that it doesn't become a chronic problem. Consult with your physiotherapist or physician to get a correct diagnosis and an appropriate recovery scheme.

Do Squats Make Your Legs Slimmer and Lose Fat?Squats are one of the best exercises you can do to strengthen your lower b...
07/27/2015

Do Squats Make Your Legs Slimmer and Lose Fat?

Squats are one of the best exercises you can do to strengthen your lower body. Doing squats, however, won't guarantee weight loss and slimmer legs. You'll need to train other parts of your body, commit to regular cardiovascular activity and refine your eating plan to make your legs slimmer and lose fat.

You Can't Spot Train
Squats primarily engage the muscles of the thighs and buttocks, so naturally it seems that they would shrink these regions. Unfortunately, you can't target a specific area for fat loss. Your body has a preset weight gain and loss pattern. Chubby trouble areas, like the thighs, are usually the result of excess weight or fat on your body. Your legs are one of the areas that stubbornly holds onto extra fat, particularly if you are a woman.

Slim Down All Over
To make your legs appear slimmer, you have to lose fat all over. A weight-loss program that combines exercise, including squats, along with a healthy, portion-controlled diet is key. Ultimately, consuming fewer calories than you burn daily will result in weight loss. Squats build muscle; they don't "burn" away excess fat. If you only squat without training other muscle groups, performing cardio and changing your eating, you'll get strong leg and glute muscles -- underneath your extra fat.

The Role of Squats
Squats should be part of your weight-loss exercise plan, rather than a singular strategy. When they are included as part of a total-body strength-training routine, squats help trigger the release of hormones that help you develop lean body mass all over your body. A body that has a greater proportion of lean muscle tends to burn more calories all day long, which helps to make weight loss easier. A paper published in a 2012 issue of "Current Sports Medicine Reports" estimates that 10 weeks of regular resistance training has the potential to increase your resting metabolic rate by 7 percent.

More Effort
The American Council on Exercise notes that overall fitness is a better determinant of your body's ability to burn fat and slim down. While squats help you improve lower body strength and build lean muscle, you'll also need to participate in cardiovascular activity for 30 to 60 minutes per day, most days of the week, to burn the calories necessary for fat loss. Try walking, running, cycling, swimming or group fitness classes in addition to strength training as part of your slim-down strategy.

Bulking Up the Latissimus With BodybuildingSerious bodybuilders don’t just bulk up their pecs and biceps; they also deve...
07/23/2015

Bulking Up the Latissimus With Bodybuilding

Serious bodybuilders don’t just bulk up their pecs and biceps; they also develop their backs, including large muscles such as the latissimus dorsi, to achieve an all-around sculpted physique. Bulking up the lats, as they’re commonly called, is particularly important if you want to develop the V-shaped torso that many bodybuilders seek.

The Latissimus Dorsi Muscles
The latissimus dorsi are large, triangular muscles on your upper back that attach to your upper arms, to the top of your pelvis and to several different ribs. The lats are involved in numerous shoulder and shoulder-blade movements, generally when your arms move backward, like when your arms move down as you’re climbing a ladder, for example.

Targeting Your Lats With the Right Exercises
When seeking to bulk up your latissimus dorsi, it’s hard to beat pullups or chin-ups. The exercises are similar, although you perform pullups with a wide, overhand grip and chin-ups with a shoulder-width, underhand grip. To really bulk up, add intensity by wearing a dip belt or ankle weights, or by securing a free weight between your feet. Lat pulldowns and underhand pulldowns replicate pullups and chin-ups, respectively, using a high-cable machine. Other exercises that work the lats include barbell or cable pullovers, inverted rows, barbell bent-over rows and seated cable or machine rows

A Lat-Building Program
Begin every workout with five to 10 minutes of light aerobic exercise to warm up. Perform dynamic stretches next, such as 10 horizontal arm swings to target your upper back. Select two or three latissimus dorsi exercises and do them at least twice per week, with at least 48 hours of rest between sessions. Start with at least three sets of six to 12 reps of each exercise but try to work up to five. For weighted exercises, lift 75 to 85 percent of your one-repetition maximum -- the most weight you can handle if you only do the exercise one time. Begin adding weight to your pullups or chin-ups when you can perform 12 body-weight versions with the correct form. End your workouts with static lat stretches, such as the yoga Child’s pose or a standing side reach. Hold static stretches for 30 seconds without bouncing.

Feed Your Lats
Eat a good diet containing plenty of lean protein to help support your muscle growth. It’s particularly important to take in some protein immediately after your workout to help your lats recover from their effort. Drink a protein shake or eat a meal with a carb-to-protein ratio of 3- or 4-to-1 within 30 to 45 minutes after your back workout ends.

14 Day Fitness PlanSome people are motivated to exercise, but they just don't know where to start or what they should be...
07/22/2015

14 Day Fitness Plan

Some people are motivated to exercise, but they just don't know where to start or what they should be doing. Instead of muddling through alone, they'll often turn to professionals. When a trainer designs a program for you, the program typically consists of multiple "cycles," or routines that you'll focus on for a few weeks or months before moving onto the next, more challenging cycle. The length of each cycle might depend on your individual goals, but it is possible to allow each cycle to last about 14 days.

The Progressions
How long you'll spend in each cycle depends on your current level of conditioning, your level of motivation and your time constraints. Depending on how you feel, you might progress through a 14-day cycle and then move right onto the next one -- or you might repeat a 14-day cycle a few times before moving onward. Programs should be tailored to your goals and to your specific body challenges, though generally they'll progress from focusing on improving your stability, mobility, core strength and developing an aerobic base, and then onto furthering your aerobic conditioning as well as more challenging strength training.

A Beginner Routine
If you consider yourself a total newbie to exercise or it's been a long time since you worked out, start with a beginner routine. This will help your body adjust gradually to the new demands. In terms of aerobic conditioning, aim to walk three to five days a week. If you can only manage 10 to 15 minutes at a time, that's okay -- start there. The ultimate goal is to walk 30 minutes a day, five days a week, but do what you can and set a goal to add a few minutes to every walk. Three days a week, also perform some basic core-strengthening exercises, including the cat/cow exercise, planks, side planks, and bird dogs -- in which you get down on all fours and extend one arm and the opposite leg. Perform two sets of 12 repetitions of the cat/cow and bird dogs. For the planks, time yourself as you hold the poses as long as you can, doing each exercise two times.

Intermediate Training
If you're already fairly fit or you exercise regularly, progress to the intermediate training program after 14 days. If you're not able to walk for 30 minutes a day or a total of 150 minutes a week just yet, stay with the beginner routine until you can handle that much walking each week. You're going to stick with your walking routine throughout this 14-day cycle, but you'll be adding in some interval training during two walks each week. Instead of walking steadily throughout the whole time, start with four bouts of jogging, for about 30 seconds to 1 minute each. Each time you do an interval workout, add one more interval so that you're up to eight short rounds of jogging by the end of the cycle. Stick with the core exercises three to four days a week, but also add two sets of 10 body weight lunges and squats.

Upper Intermediate Training
If the intermediate cycle is still mentally or physically challenging after 14 days, stick with that cycle for another 14 days or more, and then progress to upper-intermediate training when you're ready. In this cycle you'll continue to perform cardiovascular exercise for 30 to 60 minutes a day, five days a week, including two rounds of intervals. It's also okay to do any other fitness classes or other forms of cardio at this point too; just take it slow and easy the first few times to allow your body to adjust. Increase the amount of time you're spending walking or doing other forms of cardio, aiming for 30 to 60 minutes a day, five days a week. Also add strength training. Perform at least three to four exercises for the upper body as well as the lower body, starting with one set of 10 to 12 repetitions. For the upper body, perform bench presses, overhead shoulder presses, pushups, pullups, biceps curls and triceps extensions. For the lower body, hold a set of dumbbells while you do squats and lunges, and also add calf raises, leg presses and leg extensions. After 14 days, add a second set of each exercise, and then add a third set after another 14 to 28 days.

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4848 Valley View Avenue
Yorba Linda, CA
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