Each week, over one million people enjoy a fitness and wellness program created by John Spencer Ellis. His programs are implemented in the top resorts, spas and health clubs. John is the CEO of NESTA (National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association), the Spencer Institute for Life Coaching, and the Get America Fit Foundation.
He created Adventure Boot Camp, the largest fitness boot camp system in the world. His TriActive America signature series of outdoor exercise equipment is used worldwide. John has been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, FOX, FOX Sports, FOX Reality, SPIKE and ESPN. He is the fitness and lifestyle expert on Bravo's The Real Housewives of Orange County and Daybreak OC (KDOC news). John is the producer of the documentary The Compass (Jan. 2009).
Perspiration isn't generally considered desirable. It makes clothes wet and uncomfortable, it makes our skin unpleasant to touch and it often smells bad. But the biological fact is that sweating is essential to good health, especially during exercise.Humans take in and use water for a number of important physiological functions. It provides a medium for cells and tissues. It makes possible the...
Some of the major goals of exercise are to improve muscle tone, strength, and endurance. All of this is made possible by, and requires, the body's energy production-and-use system. Central to that system is a complex molecule called ATP, Adenosine Triphosphate.ATP is a core element of a process known in biochemical studies as (ready for it?): the tricarboxylic acid cycle, or the Kreb's cycle. But...
Nutrition and health science is constantly evolving, and it often seems as if the latest study contradicts earlier ones. It's hard to know what to believe. But, over the last few decades, a wide array of independent studies has tended to confirm some conclusions about the relationship between excess body fat and associated health risks.The basic conclusion is that anyone who is considerably...
A supplement, by definition, is something that accompanies something essential. But, in some cases, nutritional supplements can themselves be an essential part of a healthy nutrition regimen.Whether because of a busy life style, or an individual genetic or physiological condition, there are those who benefit from nutritional supplements. Everyone requires a certain amount of vital biochemicals,...
In order to optimize your health a good diet is essential. But, with all the fad diets around it can be difficult to know what is 'good'. Nutrition science to the rescue! Though some things are still controversial, numerous studies reinforce the following basic information.A healthy diet requires not just items from the four basic food groups, but in the proper proportion. The average person will...
The BMI (Body Mass Index) has become a useful tool in managing weight and body fat percentage in the last 20 years. Calculating it requires only simple arithmetic and can be performed by anyone. It's important because it provides an objective measurement that, combined with the appropriate scale for age and body type, helps someone manage their body weight more scientifically.Judgments about body...
Aristotle helped define the standards of fitness 2,500 years ago when he taught that a thing that suits its purpose well is fit. Fortunately for us, the cardiovascular system, lungs, skeleton, muscles, endocrine system and all the other amazing components of the body function for our purpose: to live well.Exercising aids fitness in numerous ways, each involving one or more of those...
Anyone interested in fitness wants to have great looking abs - firm, rippled and well toned, along with a trim waist. All those are achievable, but beware accepting any myths about flat stomachs and spot reduction around the waist.As you exercise, you consume energy measured in calories. When you consume enough to deplete the available energy, and enough to reduce the sugars that convert easily,...
From some trainers 'No pain, no gain' really means 'you should feel some pain'. While mild discomfort is to be expected, especially for those just beginning a new fitness routine, pain is a natural warning sign. Pay attention to it.A good workout routine will test you, but shouldn't damage you. As muscles get used, especially somewhat beyond their usual range, lactic acid, micro-tears and other...
Anyone who has ever suffered from a major backache knows how central the back is; even in times you might think it isn't important. Even something like squeezing a tennis ball, an action that involves a focus on the fingers, forearm and bicep will involve the latissimus dorsi and other back muscles.The lats are the large 'side' muscles that make a man triangle-shaped. To demonstrate how they are...
Flexibility training involves performing a series of exercises that help maximize range of motion and muscle stability. The benefits are improved blood flow in the muscles and lower risk of injury.There are three basic types of stretching exercises that help accomplish these goals: static, dynamic and Isometric/PNF.Static stretches are the most traditional type, encompassing the more or less...
You can enjoy all the benefits of gym membership - a wide variety of equipment and facilities, good advice from staff and other members and the incentive to work out by making the gym a destination. But, you can also enjoy having the ease of access and the absence of a commute by purchasing home gym equipment.But what should you buy?If you're just getting into, or back into a fitness routine, you...
What kind of leg exercises you do will of course depend on your goal. Are you trying to build massive thighs or heart-shaped calves? Do you want to build strength, increase running endurance or improve balance and flexibility? Are you a weight-lifter, a jogger or a ballerina?Naturally, not all goals are mutually exclusive. Building strength can combine well with improving balance, for example....
During any exercise and diet regimen, losing the first few pounds is often very easy. That's good because it's a great motivator when you see results right away. But as you lose more, the rate of loss, and the speed with which you see visible effects, slows down. It's hard to keep going when you aren't seeing the benefits.But don't lose heart. It's natural that initial efforts at a certain level...
Though stereotypes are dissolving with each generation, there are some that persist - in part, because they are based on real differences between men and women.While some women can and do achieve the upper body strength of some (even very fit) men, the overwhelming majority of males have a natural advantage in this area. Male aesthetic values, the source of which isn't clear, reinforce this and...
