When it comes to fitness, arguably the best investment you can make for your home is to own a treadmill.
Sixty million people can’t be wrong, can they? That’s how many people own treadmills according to several review sites and the number keeps growing each year.
Here are 10 of the top benefits to owning a treadmill
* Walking is the most natural form of exercise and can benefit people of all ages. Regular walking burns calories and tones muscles
* A treadmill allows for more variation on your workouts because you can vastly change the speeds, incline or decline and easily get intervals in.
* Treadmills offer great versatility for anyone from a rehab patient to elite athlete trying to push themselves in high-impact running.
* Treadmills are the top selling home exercise machine so that in itself demonstrates that lots and lots people believe in them.
* If you own a treadmill you can decide where, when and how you want to work out. Set up the treadmill in front of a TV and watch your favorite show, place a book or magazine on its rack or play the home stereo while you walk or run.
* By working out in the privacy of your own home, you don’t have to worry about walking outside and having people in the neighborhood staring as they drive by. Some people feel more comfortable at home than exercising in a health club gym, either.
* Treadmills are safer than outdoors because you don’t have to worry about stepping in a hole outside, inclement weather, etc.
* You can also get an outstanding workout on a treadmill. Walk, run or mix in both for as long or short a workout as you want. Walking is excellent for your circulation, and boosts metabolism. Running also boosts metabolism and suppresses your appetite as well. Combined with healthy eating, how much cardio activity you do and other factors like age and weight, you could lose 2-4 pounds a week after starting a treadmill walking program.
* Treadmills are easy to program and keep track of your workout. You can control the time, speed, incline of the walk or run and also log how many calories you’ve burned.
* For intermediate fitness programs you can start working in interval training – going harder for several minutes at a time, backing off the pace and then quickening the walk or run on a repeated cycle.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

As a person reaches their 60s and older there can be a rapid decline in muscle mass and metabolic rate. Even if you are aerobically active, you will still lose muscle mass.
However, if you combine strength training into a healthy lifestyle that will help improve the muscle mass you can keep or even improve the muscles.
Using dumbbells, functional trainers or other types of resistance training are excellent ways to tone your muscles.
Another growing trend is for seniors to use Accelerated Vibration training, in which people stand on a machine such as the Power Plate or 3G Cardio Accelerated Vibration Trainer to get a great muscle workout with low impact on the joints.
Strength training also helps improve bone density.
Once a person starts moving better, it can trigger a positive cycle in their health and overall wellbeing.
When people say “use it or lose it” it’s most true about fitness.
Senior citizens who work out with free weights, machine weights or resistance machines improves many areas:
* posture stability
* prevents falls by improving balance
* strengthens bones and reduces risk of fractures
* improves muscular endurance and lets people better control symptoms of arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes, back pain and even depression.
* Working out can even improve your overall outlook on life and make you feel better. If you maintain fitness levels in your golden years, it can help you keep a healthy, independent life much longer.
Weight training tips for seniors
While the benefits are proven time after time of working out with weights for seniors, it’s important to also be smart about it.
* Consult a doctor before beginning any significantly different fitness routine than you’re used to.
* A good stretching program is as important as any aspect of physical training, especially for seniors. It can take a lot longer to heal the older you are.
* Don’t be in a hurry. Take your time and use correct form.
* Ask a doctor or trainer for correct weightlifting techniques and how to set up a weekly routine. One of the most basic tips is to keep your head up and looking straight ahead for standing lifts and use your legs instead of your back to avoid strains.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

No matter how dedicated or genetically gifted people are, eventually Father Time will catch up to us all, although some fight off old age a lot longer.
In our 50s is when the majority of people really start to notice fitness levels decline.
But as with all stages of life, if you have a healthy lifestyle you can continue to minimize the effects of age.
In your 50s, you can still have the endurance level of a 20-year-old, which really surprises some people.
You just won’t have the strength or jumping ability like you once did.
If you stay at a healthy weight and engage in regular physical activity you won’t notice too big of a difference in day-to-day life, although you won’t be able to do things like take it to the hoop on the basketball court the way you once did.
“The U.S. population is aging and is becoming more obese and sedentary,” Andrew Jackson, PED, from the University of Houston and colleagues write in the Oct. 26 issue of “Archives of Internal Medicine.” “It is well documented that the cardio respiratory fitness of men and women declines with age and that body composition and habitual physical activity are related to cardio respiratory fitness.”
Jackson adds that low fitness levels increase the risk of diseases and interfere with the ability of older adults to function independently.
On a positive note, the results also “showed that being active, keeping a normal BMI, and not smoking were associated with substantially higher levels of cardio respiratory fitness during the adult life span studied,” the researchers say. “Being inactive and having a high body mass index were associated with a lower age at which an individual could be expected to reach threshold cardio respiratory fitness levels associated with substantially higher health risks.
“These data indicate the need for physicians to recommend to their patients the necessity to maintain their weight, engage in regular aerobic exercise, and abstain from smoking,” the researchers say.
To get cardio workouts, exercise reguarly on a treadmill, elliptical machine and/or recumbent bike and also perform stregnth training to keep muscles strong and flexible.
Here are some more tips for your 50s:
* You should be able to do more than 20 sit-ups
* You should be able to do more than 15 pushups.
* In addition to the health screenings mentioned earlier in this series, the 50s are the time when a colonoscopy should start being performed every 10 years.
* People should get checked for sign of osteoporosis, especially women.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

When you hit your 40s it’s time to focus even more on staying flexible. Once a person loses flexibility and balance they can develop frailty, which really hurts us in old age.
Age starts to catch up with people to one degree or another in their 40s.
Exercise routines you challenged yourself with in earlier years can become painful or even impossible after 40. Many people first feel the effects of age in their joints.
Connective tissue such as cartilage, tendons, and ligaments become less elastic, which can cause increased pain and/or injury if people in their 40s continue to perform high-impact activities such as long-distance running, basketball and aerobics.
However, that certainly does not mean everyone in their 40s needs to stop all high-impact activities, nor you should give up working out.
Simply tweak your fitness routine as needed. For Instance, a woman who took rigorous step aerobics classes, or a man who ran five miles a day in their 20s and 30s, may switch to activities such as cycling, swimming and walking in their 40s and beyond.
Other low-impact fitness choices that can give help you stay fit while conserving the connective tissues are activities such as elliptical trainers, recumbent bikes, yoga and Pilates.
It’s also very important to do strength training to keep muscles and bones strong. Here are some more tips for fitness in your 40s:
* You should be able to do more than 25 sit-ups
* You should be able to do more than 20 pushups.
* Practice good proactive healthcare by getting a cholesterol test every five years, eye exam every two years and each year get a flu shot, physical (test for weight, BMI, blood pressure, etc.) and dentist exam and cleaning.
* Ask your doctor about getting a prostate exam
* Get screened for skin cancer every year

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

If you were active in your 20s, you should continue to feel good and perform well physically in your 30s.
If you haven’t exercised much up to this point, this is when doctors really start stressing to get on an exercise program.
Either way, fit or not, your 30s are a time when you want to start getting more systematic about your fitness. By that I mean, start focusing on specific fitness/health goals and follow a routine to meet them. Here are some more tips:
* Women in their 30s can start losing bone mass gradually, so consequently they should concentrate on strength training. Lifting weights and-or doing resistance exercises such as on a functional trainer not only strengthens muscles, but bones as well.
* Get at least some aerobic exercise on a daily basis, even if it means taking a brisk walk. Consider getting a treadmill to workout in your home.
* Know that your metabolism can start to slow and weight gain will increase unless you start watching your diet and exercising regularly.
* This is the decade when people can become more susceptible to weight-related health problems such high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, but a healthy lifestyle can change all that.
* Men and women should incorporate more stretching and flexibility exercises as muscles can start to feel stiffer in the 30s.
* You should be able to do more than 35 sit-ups
* You should be able to do more than 25 pushups.
* Practice good health screening by getting a cholesterol test every five years, eye exam every two years and each year get a flu shot, physical (test for weight, BMI, blood pressure) and dentist exam and cleaning.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

Our bodies go through many changes through each decade we live. One thing that should never change is a commitment to exercise.
No matter what your age, exercise can always help you feel and look younger.
This week we’ll look at tips for how to adjust your fitness and health approaches as you move along through the decades in life.
Our series starts today with fitness tips for your 20s:

* You should be working out vigorously at least every other day for 30 minutes or more.
* Perform strength training and cardio exercises so that you have a good overall strength and stamina. Set up a regular weight program and run outside, or on a treadmill several times a week.
* You should be able to do more than 50 sit-ups
* You should be able to do more than 35 pushups.
* Start evaluating your diet habits. Although you can still possibly get away with eating a college kids’ diet if you’re active, your metabolism will be slowing down in years to come and bad habits could come back to haunt you.
* Practice good health screening by getting a tetanus shot every 10 years, and each year get a flu shot, physical (test for weight, BMI, blood pressure) and dentist exam and cleaning.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

One of the best ways to reduce your waist line is to cut out soft drinks from your diet. And that certainly does not mean switching from regular coke to Diet Coke. The average 12-ounce can of regular soda has about 8 teaspoons of added sugar, nearly all the recommended daily amount of sugar.
The American Heart Association reports that, “soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the No. 1 source of added sugars in the American diet.”
Those additional sugars add up to more calories, which people need to avoid in order to loss weight and cut down on belly fat.
It‘s best to cut out soda altogether if you can and replace it with drinks such as unsweetened iced tea, milk and, of course, good old water.
Americans consume way too much sugar as it is, about 22 teaspoons a day. That’s far more than the American Heart Association’s recommended levels of 6 teaspoons per day for women and 9 per day for men.
To put it another way, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that Americans basically consume their weight in sugar in a year’s time.
And beverages are the No. 1 source of added sugar in the diet. Although soda has the most sugar, most fruit drinks and sports drinks are also full of added sugar.
Of course, drinking alcohol is another way to add a great deal more sugar to your body. Added sugars have no nutritional value.
The American Heart Association says to limit sugar in the diet to no more than 100 calories a day for most women and 150 calories for most men.
So watch what you drink, and watch your waist line tighten up.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

Almost every guy can bench press 135 pounds when they’re just starting out. After about 8-12 months of training, many can work their way up to bench pressing 225 pounds.
However, very few ever reach 315 pounds – aka three big plates.
To get to the point where you can one day clank three 45-pound plates onto each side of the Olympic bar and bench press it, or at least get close to that kind of weight, here are five tips to increase your bench press.
1. Mix up your reps – Change up your bench press workouts in terms of the amount of reps and weight you’re using. Start out with higher reps, like sets of 12 or 10, to build a base.
After a few weeks, start doing reps of 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 in which you increase the weight as you lower the reps. Further into your training program, have days where you do three sets of five and even three sets of three to get used to heavier weights.
2. Tuck your elbows in toward your sides – Most of the top bench pressers do this. By tucking your elbows in more, you’ll put less wear and tear on your shoulders and involve your triceps more.
3. Use your legs – Tuck your legs under the bench and push your toes into the front of your shoes as you do the bench press. This will help tighten up your entire body and get a good amount of extra push.
4. Build your complementary muscles – Make sure to work out your upper-back muscles and triceps to help out the shoulders and chest during bench presses. Also, use light dumbbells to build up the back of the shoulders and rotator cuff. If you keep hammering away on just bench presses you could be headed for some shoulder trouble.
5. Arch your back correctly – It’s OK to arch your back some when going for a max lift, just do it properly and safely. Squeeze your traps together and try to slide your upper back closer to the bottom of the bench.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

Research published recently in the British Journal of Sports Medicine indicates that regular cardiovascular exercise can delay biological aging by 10-15 or more years in many cases.
Translation: When a person turns 50 years old, it’s possible for them to still feel like they’re in their 30s.
The ability to turn back the clock on how you feel is certainly something worth exercising for.
As a person gets older a natural decline in aerobic capacity starts to take place at an approximate rate of five ml/(kg*min) per decade.
An example of what this means is if a person was in excellent shape in their 20s, with an aerobic capacity of 50 ml/(kg*min), by the time they reach their 60s their aerobic capacity would have dipped to 30 ml/(kg*min).
If a person was only in average shape in their 20s, say with an aerobic capacity of 40 ml/(kg*min), by their 60s they’d be reduced to 20 ml/(kg*min).
When aerobic capacity dips to about 18 in men and 15 in women, normal everyday chores become extremely difficult to perform without experiencing a good deal of fatigue.
However, relatively high-intensity aerobic exercise performed over time can boost aerobic power by 25 percent.
In order to boost your aerobic capacity, one must challenge their heart and lungs. This isn’t as hard as it may seem.
You don’t have to go all out for a 20- to 30-minute treadmill or bike workout.
If you do interval training, go hard for 3-5 minutes then back off for the next 3-5 minutes, etc., that will challenge you enough.
Regular cardio exercise three times a week for 20-30 minutes can help boost your aerobic power and it’s really never too late to start.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com

Fall can offer scenery like no others. With the crackling of the leaves and smells of the season such as crisp air, leaves on the ground and apple picking it treats the senses like no other time of the year.
The fall months are also an excellent time to enjoy exercising in the great outdoors.
Activities such as walking, hiking and cycling are all great to do in the fall.
You may also want to discover park trails or visit some old favorites or take in some new scenery.
If you live near the beach, get out and go for a long walk along the water, play volleyball, or throw the Frisbee around.
Once peak season has passed by, many places are a lot less crowded so if it’s still warm enough they are still a lot of fun to visit.
If you’re near a lake, try kayaking or canoeing, for an excellent whole-body workout and a great change of pace.
Of course, the most classic way to exercise in the fall is to rake the yard or do other outdoor work.
The leaves are starting to fall now, but they won’t be up in the trees forever. Take advantage of the few good – sometimes great – weeks of fall weather left before winter’s chill arrives by enjoying the great benefits autumn has to offer.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com