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Tom Houser asked:


Staying active in the whole play of the 18-hole course requires a perfect blend of stamina, strength, flexibility as well as balance all of which are achievable when a player engages in appropriate golf fitness routines.

Choosing what fits your needs will help you address your weaknesses and therefore will be of great help in the improvement of your game. However, with a number exercises to choose from plus other compounding factors such as possible monetary investments and time availability, which ones should you engages in. Here are some things to consider:

effective routines will be those types that you can consistent perform and stick with for a longer period of time – This implies commitment on your end and proper to choosing a particular routine, you should be able to see all its angles and not just try it for the sake of trying only to curtail it a few days after starting the program. Go for exercises, which can be performed in the comfort of your home – as most players hardly have time to play, allotting time for fitness routines might just be additional load for you. So eliminate those that require you to enroll in gyms and fitness centers because apart from you are required to go the gym perhaps on a weekly basis, you are also increasing  your financial obligations by trying out this sport. Consider routine stuff that are quite easy to execute and those that do not require specialized equipment nor the aid of fitness instructors. This is especially true if you are somewhat tight in your budget. In addition, you must be aware that your enticement for playing this sport might not be for a lifetime and perhaps one of these days you will wake up not wanting to play golf anymore. In this case, all those equipment might just be wasted investments of your short fancy for the sport. So choose simpler routines to avoid complications on investments. Be involved on exercises that you can have for a lifetime, that is you need not do it for the sole purpose of improving your game but those that in general help you achieve a healthier state.

A good play requires a sound and prepared mind and physique. Your muscles should be prepared enough to sustain the requirements of the game and at the same time eliminate onset of tension, which may result to injuries. Engaging then in appropriate and easy to maneuver golf fitness routines will help improve your game.

Brad Howard asked:


With a sizeable portion of the population in danger of being clinically diagnosed as overweight, health clubs are all the rage nowadays. But why is it that so many people fail to achieve the promise of enduring fitness when they do join a health club or gym? Why is it that many people complain about the level of service these clubs provide?

The fitness industry is one that is filled with a lot of false promises. It is essentially an industry that provides people with plenty of hope but little useful advice. What happens after you sign the contract and pay the membership fee can sometimes be… surprising.

How the Trickery Works

It’s funny how the successes of many fitness centers rely on the failure of its very members. This is not always the case, especially when it comes to the more expensive health clubs. Let’s face it – because they are already making a lot of money from the membership fees, there really is no incentive to play dirty games. However, for lower-end gyms and health clubs – it’s quite a different story. Because of the low membership fees, these clubs need a lot of members in order to be profitable. And many clubs, as you would have guessed, will stoop low enough to fool people out of their money.

From false advertising to hidden charges, many health clubs will employ every conceivable technique to simply get your money. These types of clubs, unfortunately, have set up a trap from which there is little chance to escape. Customers in these establishments rarely become content with the service and end up leaving them soon. Moreover, because these health clubs advertise in the budget category – the clients they attract have historically been the most hard to maintain. The result is an endless cycle where new members come in as fast as existing ones leave.

The most tired strategy in signing up new members is with ambiguous advertisement. Promises of discounts, freebies and privileges that don’t exist also come in handy. The trick is to corner you at the first meeting and force you to sign the contract at that very moment. Other dubious sales strategies also come into play. Be very careful about what you sign. Most of the time, these are cunningly crafted documents designed to confuse the hell out of you. Hidden inside these documents could be expensive cancellation charges, hidden fees or two year-long terms that cannot be canceled.

Further, do not think that you will get peace once you have signed up for a health club membership. Oh no, a week or so after your membership you will get a FREE sampling of this or that service, and this or that product… ALL guaranteed to help you lose weight of course. And after the free sampling, rest assured you will receive endless encouragement to sign up and buy those additional products and services, which just so happen to be on discount… this week only.

So how do you find a good and reliable health club? Does that mean you have to sign up for those expensive clubs? Not necessarily and not all expensive clubs are free from the same shady operations, anyway. All one has to do is inspect, check and verify an establishment for its authenticity. Advertisements, especially those that focus on savings, should be a red flag for anyone. This is because successful gyms don’t really need to advertise much. By doing a little research, you can save yourself a lot of headaches.

Ramone Stevenson asked:


Joining a fitness center is the beginning of getting into shape but there are some things you need to consider when choosing a fitness center.

Lets face it the choices for fitness center memberships are pretty wide. From expensive gyms that offer racquet ball, cocktail lounges, and full spa facilities to the basic gym that has all the equipment you’ll ever need but no frills. Choosing can be bit difficult. Thankfully you tell a lot before you ever buy that membership.

The way to choose a fitness center is based on your fitness goals. What do you want to achieve and how do you achieve that? Consider what it is you want to work on. Do you need free weights? Aerobic classes? Cardio equipment? Look for a gym that can meet your needs. If you aren’t sure what your fitness goals are then you need to meet with a personal trainer.

When you’ve lined up a fitness center that appears to fit you needs pay a visit. If there is more than one than pay a visit to all of them. Learn what equipment they have to offer, what additional services they have, what the hours are. Meet the staff, see what you think of them, and take a tour of the club.

Find out as much information as you can and if you decide to join the fitness center and make sure you ask about:

1. Location and hours. Is the fitness center near your home or work place? Is the facility open during the time period that you plan to exercise? During what times is the facility most crowded?

2. Environment. Will you enjoy spending time in the fitness center? Are the floors, locker rooms, and equipment clean? Is there entertainment available such as televisions or personal music stations?

3. Equipment. Does the fitness center have the equipment you’ want to use? Does the equipment appear to be well maintained and in good shape? Does the facility offer other activities for your health needs or disabilities?

4. Classes. What type of classes does the fitness center offer – how often? when? Do they limit class sizes?

5. Staff. Are the staff that work at the fitness center friendly? Are they trained in CPR and first aid? Are there personal trainers available? What type of qualifications do the staff members have?

6. Amenities. Does the fitness center offer convenient parking, sauna, towels, or child care services?

7. Reputation. What do others say about the fitness center?

8. Cost. How much does membership cost at this fitness center? How do their billing cycles run? What are the opt-out policies? Are any additional fees charged for specific amenities?

The more information you can collect on each fitness center that you are interested in the better able you will be to make the right decision for your personal fitness needs.

It is always nice to find a fitness center that will let you try before you buy. Most of the larger chain facilities make these offers but don’t be afraid to ask at any of the fitness centers if the offer free trial memberships. Visit the fitness center at the same time of day or night that you plan to exercise. This will tell you the availability of the machines, how busy the cardio equipment is and even what the shower facilities look like.

When choosing a fitness center choose the facility that gives you the most value.

Michelle Van Otten asked:

In order to understand exactly what fitness is, or what it means to be “fit”, we have to define it so that we can have a precise understanding of what, how and why. Right? It almost drove me mad trying to find a definition for fitness and being fit! I searched the internet and writings of leading industry organizations and found very odd, misleading and confusing definitions. It’s no wonder everyone struggles to achieve a state that has no clear definition!

If you took the time to search yourself, you might find definitions for fitness such as:

in good physical condition; in good health or sound physically and mentally; healthy; to conform correctly to the shape or size of (1): to insert or adjust until correctly in place (2): to make or adjust to the right shape and size; Capability of the body of distributing inhaled oxygen to muscle tissue during increased physical effort; the genetic contribution of an individual to the next generation’s gene pool relative to the average for the population, usually measured by the number of offspring or close kin that survive to reproductive age. (Huh!!)

Wow! Even the NSCA, the National Strength and Conditioning Association who is one of the most respected authorities on exercise physiology doesn’t even attempt to give a definition of fitness.

How’s that for maddening? Well let me share with you what my definition of fitness is. You see, creating a fitness program without clearly defining what it is that the program must deliver would be ambiguous and leave you unclear about what you had to do to achieve the outcome you want. I believe that defining fitness plays a crucial role in your success. The keys to understanding the methods and achievements of the perfect fitness program are embedded in our view of fitness and in some basic exercise science.

At Ultimate Potential we use five different principles or systems for evaluating and guiding you in achieving your Ultimate level of fitness. These five systems define our view of fitness perfectly. All of these systems combined creates a holistic body (or being) and lifestyle.

Each system is a vital component and each has a distinct importance in understanding your overall fitness level or that of a program’s effectiveness in serving you to achieve a higher level of fitness. Mastering each of these 5 systems combined create what we define as world-class or elite level fitness.

1st System – Train All 10 of Your Basic Physical Skills

The first system identifies and outlines the 10 generally recognized basic physical skills you must train your body for. They are defined as:

Cardiovascular

Stamina

Strength

Flexibility

Power

Speed

Coordination

Agility

Balance

Accuracy

- the ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity. – the ability to control the placement of your body’s center of gravity in relation to its base of support. Balance gets harder as you get older unless you train to keep this skill sharp. – the ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another. – the ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement. – the ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement – the ability of your muscles to apply maximum force in minimum time. – the ability to maximize your range of motion at a given joint and not feel 90 when you’re only 40! – the ability of your muscles, or combinations of muscles, to apply force. – the ability of your body systems to process, deliver, store and utilize energy.- the ability of body systems to gather, process and deliver oxygen to your entire body.

The truth is, you’re only as fit as you are developed in each of these 10 basic skills. And like a chain, you are only as strong as your weakest link. Improvements are always made with training and practice. Keep in mind that all of these skills have one common theme: if you don’t use them, you will lose them. All of these skills make a contribution to your quality of life. Identifying where you are weakest in these 10 categories and then choosing the right fitness training program that allows you to develop and achieve balance in all of these skills is YOUR goal in the first system.

2nd System – Functional Training means you train for life

The second system is based upon the fact that your human body is meant to perform in functional, multidirectional movement patterns using multiple joints and muscles at any given time. This is why we train your body with primarily Functional Training using the right intensity and methods in our Fitness Training programs. If you think about your functional movement patterns in a day, they might include: squatting, overhead reaching, twisting, bending, pushing, pulling, lunging, quick multi-directional movements, stepping, climbing, etc. Imagine not being able to do any of those when you needed to the most? Imagine having a better body and quality of life because you’re stronger and capable of handling anything that comes your way!

Life is a consistently unpredictable event!

You never know what will be thrown your way or how you will have to respond at any given moment. Having a higher level of fitness means you must be able to execute physical tasks, especially those that are unusual movements and combined in infinitely varying combinations.

Here’s a big myth that I want to dispel. The myth is that in order to achieve the perfect body you have to work out doing the same consistent exercises, with a specific number of reps and sets on the same days of the week. Let me tell you how wrong that is! It’s extremely important to know that following a routine with a set number of reps, sets, exercises, order of exercises or routines is not an effective way to train your body! Back and shoulders one day…arms and legs another. That’s right! The best way to train your amazing, beautiful human body is to constantly mix up training techniques, use combination movements, keep your workouts varied and challenging and always push yourself to the next level. Routine is the enemy!

You will make progress toward achieving a fitness goal when you are consistent and engaging yourself with fun, challenging and diverse exercises that you enjoy. Mix it up at least five or ideally six days a week for at least an hour at a time at varied intensity levels.

In our Outdoor Fitness Training programs, we never have you do the same workout twice and you never know what you’ll be doing until you get there! You see, no predictability means you keep your body guessing, keep it on the edge and keep making progress toward your goals. This is what you must do as well if you are planning to embark on your own fitness program.

3rd System – Understand how to use your energy systems to your max fat and calorie burning advantage!

The third system is the secret to burning the maximum amount of fat and calories you can while increasing your level of fitness faster.

What the secret, you want to know? The secret lies in the right prescription for magic “metabolic conditioning.”

I have to get a little scientific on you here for a minute but don’t worry this will all make perfect sense to you in a moment. I’ll bet no one has ever taken the time to explain to you how your body’s energy systems work and why it’s important to know and understand how this information is going to benefit you.

There are three distinct metabolic pathways that provide the energy for all of your actions. These metabolic engines are known as the:

The Phosphagen pathway

The Glycolytic pathway

The oxidative pathway

If this all sounds too technical to you, relax, because I’m going to break it down for you…

Your phosphagen and glycolytic pathway supply the majority of energy used in moderate to high-powered activities that last less than several minutes. So, think weightlifting, sprinting, circuit and interval training here. These activities are primarily called anaerobic. Anaerobic activity causes the biggest increase to your cardiovascular fitness level, allows you to develop muscle tone faster and gives you the biggest decreases in body fat, surprisingly more than aerobic activity. Anaerobic conditioning gives you the biggest bang for your buck by creating the body you want faster and more efficiently. Anaerobic activity will also develop your level of aerobic fitness without losing valuable muscle tone that often occurs with long endurance aerobic exercise where your heart rate is kept at a steady, easier rate. Decreased muscle tone means increased body fat. No one wants that!

The third pathway, the oxidative pathway supplies energy for low-powered activities, those that last in excess of several minutes. Think fast walking, jogging, running (whether it’s around the block, long-distance or ultra endurance), biking, swimming etc. there is no argument that aerobic training builds your cardiovascular engine and decreases body fat. But what’s important to know is that if you only train your body aerobically you will never develop a higher level of fitness without training anaerobically. Aerobic exercise is important for reducing body fat and developing your cardiovascular baseline of fitness but without developing muscle you will struggle to increase your metabolism. Without balancing aerobic and anaerobic exercise you simply will not create the results you want to see.

You must tap into all of your body’s energy pathways while doing the most effective combinations of fitness training that gives you the greatest results in the minimum amount of time. The secret to your success lies in higher intensity circuit and interval training techniques and in always mixing things up! Remember, keep your body guessing, and always keep upping the ante!

4th System – The Magic of the Right Nutrition

This system is one of the most critical and often neglected. And it’s the one system that people seem to struggle with the most. But I’m going to make it easy for you.

Your nutrition plays one of the most critical functions in achieving your health and fitness success

. Let’s be honest and straight up here…simply choosing exercise alone in an effort to lose weight or become fit or healthy without eating right will not get you where you want to be. Period! Exercise and nutrition are not mutually exclusive of each other. Also, having the mindset that because you’re working out means you can eat whatever you want will only leave you frustrated and with a lack of results. That doesn’t work either. What does work?

The only thing that works is adopting a complete fitness and eating lifestyle that embraces the right exercise, a winning nutrition plan and consistent action and effort to engage in both every day.

Only this combined effort will bring you to the highest level of fitness success and create the body you dream of having.

What does a winning nutrition plan consist of? One that actually increases your metabolism and helps you burn body fat? Only real whole foods that create a balanced nutrition profile (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, mineral), help you burn fat and increase your metabolism. The bottom line is if it comes in a box, wrapper, can and isn’t living, whole food it doesn’t belong in your body. You want to think live food vs. dead food, more raw foods vs. cooked. Organic versus conventionally grown…you definitely don’t need to ingest more pesticides or be exposed to more toxic substances than you already are. Your body spends a lot of time trying to detox itself as it is. Eating more raw vegetables and fruits will also create the right pH balance in your body.

What should your nutrition plan look like? All vegetables, small portions of fruit, berries, nuts and seeds along with beans and peas, certain whole grains, flax and chia seeds, wild fish, eggs, high quality whey protein powder and the right nutritional supplements.

If you want to see progress and permanent changes to your body, you have to give up dairy, sugar, very little alcohol (even wine!), any and all processed foods, refined grains and starches and eat in a way that supports high energy and even levels of blood sugar stabilization throughout your day. This means eating six small meals spread out throughout the course of your day and not eating after 7pm. The most important focus has to be on eating only enough calories to support your level of physical fitness and not increase body fat by eating in excess of what your body burns in a day.

Know that eating the wrong foods, especially in the wrong proportions, will squash every attempt you will undertake in trying to make progress.

5th System – Fitness Success isn’t necessarily what you do to your body…it’s what you do to your mind!

The fifth and final system is the single most important one of all! It’s all about creating a powerful mind.

Every morning as you begin your day, practice visualizing yourself exactly as you want to be as if you have already achieved your goals.

Start each day by focusing on exactly what you want to create for that day and exactly how you want to be and what you want to achieve. See it happening exactly the way you want it. With practice it becomes reality.

Your mind is the most powerful tool you have. Always know that you are the one who’s in control of all of your thoughts, feelings, emotions and their resulting actions. If you are always telling yourself that you are fat, ugly, unlovable, unsuccessful, unwanted etc… then this is exactly what you will create as your reality. On the other hand, if you start your day telling yourself how much you love yourself, how you admire the way your body is taking on a new shape, noticing all the new small little changes and appreciating your body as it’s developing and loving yourself for who you are, not only will you be magnetizing yourself toward your goals, you will experience a profound level of inner peace and satisfaction. It’s all about changing your vibration and focusing on creating positive results for yourself and your life. Bottom line is…you have to LOVE living in your own skin!

All of these systems combined will lead you successfully toward achieving an elite level of fitness success. Having a coach and a mentor to help you set goals and navigate successfully toward them is invaluable. Studies have proven that Coaching is a powerful and effective tool that has helped more people reach a higher level of success than they could possibly achieve on their own.

If you are still doing the same thing in the gym you will always get the same results, plateau, struggle endlessly to reach goals or eventually burn out or get bored!