Put Gyminee on your Windows Vista Sidebar

Posted by JuryDuty - 10/29/08 at 12:10:34 pm

Word on the street is that Gyminee has some cool gadget ideas in the works. But while we’re waiting for those ideas to manifest, here’s a cool do-it-yourself gadget that will put a quick access version of Gyminee on your Windows Vista Desktop.

What this gadget does is simple: it puts the mobile (or iPhone) version of Gyminee on your Windows Vista desktop using a Windows Sidebar gadget. This opens up instant access to entry pages for workouts, food and your BodyTracker. It also lets you track Gymbuddy News and access the Gyminee library of exercises.

So here’s how to set it up:

1. Download the Minibrowser gadget. Install it as you would any other Windows Sidebar gadget. Drag it off the sidebar and let it sit on your desktop.

2. Open Internet Explorer and log into Gyminee. This is especially important if you use another browser because Minibrowser needs your login to be set in Internet Explorer.

3. In the Minibrowser gadget, type http://www.gyminee.com/iphone in the address bar.

4. Now click on the little wrench to customize the gadget. On the General tab, uncheck all the boxes and leave the reload box at “0.” On the Sizes tab, make both sizes 340×320 (for ease of use). Leave the transform width at “0.”

Click “OK” and you should see a new window on your desktop similar to the screenshot here. Cool, huh? Have another great way to access some aspect of Gyminee? Post it below and we may feature it soon!

–JuryDuty

(Christopher Maselli at WritingMomentum.com)

More Research Supporting High Intensity Training

Posted by Susan - 10/28/08 at 03:10:52 pm

Rarely a day goes by where I don’t hear someone telling me about the hours on end they spend on the treadmill/elliptical/stair climber. These are the same people who have the same 10 - 20 lbs to lose that just never seem to come off.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I hate doing cardio. Yet, nothing takes the weight off like a good cardio session so when I first began reading about high intensity training (short workouts at maximum output) I was more than happy to give it a try.

The changes I realized over the past 9-months have exceeded my expectations. I now spend under half the time I used to working out, weigh 16 lbs less and lost 9% of my body fat.

High intensity training works. Period.

There is continuing research supporting the benefits of high intensity training, the most recent coming out of the University of Virginia where they have studied the impact of aerobic exercise on individuals with the metabolic syndrome.

According to the American Heart Association, metabolic syndrome is characterized by a group of metabolic risk factors in one person, including abdominal obesity (excessive fat tissue in and around the abdomen, also known as visceral fat).

People with the metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of coronary heart disease and other diseases related to plaque buildups in artery walls (e.g., stroke and peripheral vascular disease) and type 2 diabetes. The metabolic syndrome has become increasingly common in the United States. It’s estimated that over 50 million Americans have it.

While abdominal visceral fat (AVF) is a predictor of the metabolic syndrome, little is known regarding the effects of aerobic exercise training intensity on reductions in AVF.

Researchers out of the University of Virginia studied 28 abdominally obese individuals to determine if 16 weeks of aerobic exercise training at an intensity above the lactate threshold (high intensity training) is more effective than aerobic training below the lactate threshold (low intensity training) on reduction in abdominal visceral fat (AVF).

The 28 individuals were assigned to one of three groups:

1) No exercise training

2) Low intensity training – 5 supervised exercise sessions (days) per week, working below the lactate threshold.

3) High intensity training – 5 supervised exercise sessions (days) per week, with three days above the lactate threshold and two days at the lactate threshold.

Exercise time was adjusted to maintain identical caloric expenditure for the 28 individuals.

Results revealed significant reductions in abdominal and thigh fat only in the high intensity training group.

Once again, research supports that in order to lose fat the focus needs to be on high intensity training.

My high intensity program of choice is Turbulence Training combined with HIIT on a treadmill or bike, but you can find many options here on Gyminee. Find a program that works for you. If you’ve been struggling with losing those last 10 to 20 lbs, you may be very surprised by the results.

Train hard; stay strong.

Peace.

Susan

www.catapultfitnessblog.com

“Everybody Wins” At Gyminee

Posted by Stephen - 10/24/08 at 11:10:31 am

For those of you who aren’t yet familiar with Gyminee Challenges, they are a very popular way for Gyminee users to compete with one another to see who can lose the most weight, run the furthest distance, lift the greatest amount of weight, and much more. Gyminee Challenges were released only a couple months ago, and we are pleased (to say the least) at how they have been helping people to exercise more and to stay motivated.

 In the 420+ challenges that have been created:

• Over 3,000 users have participated in a challenge.
• Over 4,580 lbs have been lost by users in Weight Loss Challenges.
  
• Over 25,375 miles have been traveled by users in Distance Challenges.
• Over 58,850,000 lbs have been lifted by users in Weight Lifting Challenges!

 

 

 

 

Is Your Aerobics Instructor Making the Cut?

Posted by GenaM - 10/23/08 at 12:10:33 pm

On your road to better health, you may decide to join a fitness class. Thankfully, today’s gyms offer lots of choices - aerobics, step, kick boxing, boxing, yoga and more. Mike Spezzano, Vice President of Membership and Program Development at New York City’s YMCA, recommends watching a class before joining. Here are a few pointers for choosing the class that’s right for you.

• Teacher vs. Performer - Make sure the instructor is a good teacher not just someone who can go through all kinds of complicated choreography.
• Taking Time - The instructor should take time with individuals to help them develop skills, to help them learn whatever it is they’re doing in the class.
• Levels of Intensity - Make sure the instructor gives options to modify the intensity, like easier options for people who are tired or want something less challenging. Then people can work at their own level.
• Variety - The instructor should incorporate new things to keep the class interesting-new motivating music from time to time or new choreography.
• Fun - There should be an element of fun to keep people motivated and coming back time after time. If the participants are smiling, that’s a good sign.

The Gyminee Store is now open!

Posted by derek - 10/22/08 at 08:10:25 am

This is good news for all of you who have been asking us about those Gyminee T-shirts you either read about on the Forums or, in some strange coincidence, saw another Gyminee member wearing at a coffee shop!

Today, we opened our Gyminee Store and loaded it with some  branded t-shirts for both men and women. We wanted to start off simple and based on user feedback, decided on some heavyweight cotton T’s  for the gym by Gildan and some fitted cotton shirts from American Apparel to show your colors outside the club.

We’ll be adding more merchandise to the store over time and if any of you have any suggestions for cool products you’d love to see, send us an email or make a suggestion on the Forums.

Don’t Eat That!

Posted by Susan - 10/17/08 at 09:10:41 am

I’ll start by acknowledging that I realize this may not be a very popular blog post.  I’ve seen positive mentions made of David Zinczenko’s, Eat This, Not That!, book on Gyminee and who am I to argue with a best-seller anyway?

Personally, I think David is a brilliant businessman. In his 8+ years as Editor-In-Chief of Men’s Health, the magazine’s circulation has grown by 30% and ad pages by 80%. Pretty impressive stuff.

Conceptually, I agree with the premise of David’s book, but while reading an article recently entitled America’s Worst Breakfast Foods, I couldn’t help being discouraged by the recommendations being made to readers. Here are a few examples:

Worst Side Dish:
Burger King Hash Browns (large)
620 calories
40 g fat (11 g saturated; 13 g trans)
1,200 mg sodium
60 g carbs

David’s Recommendation: Eat This Instead!:
Burger King Egg & Cheese Croissan’wich
300 calories
17 g fat (5 g saturated; 2 g trans)
740 mg sodium
26 g carbs

Worst Breakfast Sandwich:
Hardee’s Monster Biscuit
710 calories
51 g fat (17 g saturated)
2,250 mg sodium
37 g carbs

David’s Recommendation: Eat This Instead!:
Hardee’s Sunrise Croissant with Bacon
450 calories
29 g fat (12 g saturated)
900 mg sodium
28 g carbs

Is this the message we really want to be sending to a society in the midst of an obesity epidemic? At what point does health become a consideration? When we have an epidemic of thin 30-somethings going in for triple by-pass surgery?

The Burger King Egg & Cheese Croissan’wich has 51% of it’s calories from fat while the Hardee’s Sunrise Croissant with Bacon has a whopping 58% of it’s calories from fat.

Susan’s Recommendation:
1 cup steel cut oatmeal
Two egg whites and one whole egg omelet with low-fat Swiss cheese and mushrooms

315 calories
9 g fat (3 g saturated)
549 mg sodium
29 g carbs

In case you’re wondering, this healthy breakfast alternative has 25% of it’s calories from fat and is probably going to make you a heck of a lot more productive in the morning.

Train hard; stay strong.

Peace.

Susan

2008 Candidate Spotlight: Obama’s Fitness Routine

Posted by JuryDuty - 10/16/08 at 08:10:51 am

While it doesn’t look like John McCain or Barack Obama have registered for Gyminee yet, we thought it would be fun to look at what each candidate does for fitness. In this installment, we’ll look at Barack Obama.

A Politico reporter spied on Obama at the gym recently and picked up some pretty detailed information:

“Obama ran a full body workout. Standing tricep push downs, elbows tight to his hips. Lying triceps presses but with single 15 lb dumbbells in each hand, his cap falling off. After the set he got up, placed the weights back and only then reached down and picked up his cap, ever so gradually. Shoulder presses. Step ups with a high platform, clasping dumbbells. He had a prescribed workout on paper that Reggie held. Though at times Obama did his own thing, focusing mostly on his triceps. In one set he started with 50 lbs for overhead dumbbell extensions. He lifted it once, grimacing. He moved straight away to 40 lbs. Later, in the corner of the gym he did calf raises alone, lifting about 80 lbs and then cleaning the bench afterward, slowly, weight by weight. He walked around that way, sauntering, squinting beneath his cap, a little stiff legged, like a man who had just finished a long run.”

Other sites report that Obama enjoys switching it up between using a treadmill, riding a stationary bike, shooting hoops or taking in a daily 3 mile jog. According to kiwibox, his diet includes “protein bars, veggies, and almonds, among other healthy foods.”

Of course, running for president is a rigorous fitness test in itself! Be sure to check out McCain’s routine in an earlier post here at Gyminee, too.

And, if you want to use Gyminee to keep in shape like Obama, check out Gyminee’s Obama Fitness Routine.

–JuryDuty

(Christopher Maselli at WritingMomentum.com)

2008 Candidate Spotlight: McCain’s Fitness Routine

Posted by JuryDuty - 10/15/08 at 08:10:39 am

While it doesn’t look like John McCain or Barack Obama have registered for Gyminee yet, we thought it would be fun to look at what each candidate does for fitness. In this installment, we’ll look at John McCain.

ABC News reports that in July, McCain was asked point-blank by Lance Armstrong about how he stays fit. His answer?

“I hike, I swim, I do light exercises,” McCain said, noting that he recently hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim with his son.

“I mainly enjoy hiking,” McCain said, “so you can enjoy the outdoors.” But McCain also acknowledged that campaigning itself is good exercise–shaking hands on the rope line, traveling on the campaign trail.

“And,” he said, “you don’t eat much cause you are usually talking while others are eating.”

According to kiwibox, his diet includes “shrimp, doughnuts and pepperoni/onion pizza.”

So while McCain doesn’t appear to have a regimented routine, he does suggest that he stays very active…and you have to admit, anyone who can survive running for president must be in pretty good shape!

Set a bookmark and check back soon for a look at Obama’s routine.

–JuryDuty

(Christopher Maselli at WritingMomentum.com)

Correlation vs. Causation

Posted by Brian - 10/09/08 at 12:10:44 pm

I’ve been slacking on my posting for about a month now due to some personal issues, but am hoping to work my way back into a regular routine and am going to start it with a simple, but nonetheless important note regarding the numerous research studies that people (myself included) throw around to support why we should or should not eat Food A or do Exercise B.  And that note is that correlation is not…repeat…is not the same as causation.

To start this discussion, we need to recognize that we’re all biased.  I’m biased.  You’re biased.  Yes, some people have a more open mind than others, but for someone to say that they are completely unbiased is ludicrous.  And it’s because of this bias that we have a tendency to blindly accept studies that reinforce what we already believe, and immediately dismiss or pick apart the ones that don’t.  So, when we hear of a study(1) that, for instance, finds a correlation between exercise (in this case running) and longevity, we immediately accept that as Gospel.  Why?  Because that’s what we already believe to be true in our minds.  Of course people who exercise live longer, better lives, right?!?

The conclusion that the authors of this particular study draw is that “Vigorous exercise (running) at middle and older ages is associated with reduced disability in later life and a notable survival advantage.”  There’s nothing wrong with that statement - in fact, it’s 100% accurate - but it’s important to note that the authors said they found an “association” (correlation), not proof (causation).  Reread their conclusion.  Nowhere are they claiming they proved a link between exercise and longevity, but today’s mainstream media doesn’t make mention of that distinction when studies like this are blasted across the television, radio, and the internet.  Saying something could, maybe, possibly, perhaps, we think help or hurt you doesn’t have the same impact as, “Want to avoid death?  We’ll tell you how…tonight at 11:00″.

Now, let’s look at another example of correlation.  Below is a famous, far-fetched example used in a letter to the Kansas School Board in January 2005 (2).

There is obviously a correlation between the two sets of data in that, as the number of pirates has decreased over the centuries, the global average temperature has increased.  But I don’t think that anyone would believe that the decreasing number of pirates in the world has actually caused the increase in the global average temperature or that the increase in the temperature has caused a reduction in the number of pirates.  Yet because a scientist or statistician somewhere in the world found a similar correlation between exercise and longevity we immediately think, “Ah-ha!  Finally! Proof!”

The interesting thing about science is that we tend to define it as creating a hypothesis and then proving or disproving that hypothesis.  In reality, hypotheses aren’t really proven.  Experiments either support the data, or disprove the data.  After enough support, we accept the hypothesis as fact, even though we have never proven it to be true.  We just can’t find anything that disproves it (if you’re interested enough - and geeky enough - check out the graph of the results of the COBE Mission as this is probably the most amazing example of an experiment agreeing with a theory (3)).

So, as we look at the two sets of correlating data presented in this post, the first (that exercise is linked to longevity) is one that we’ll still walk away believing because we “know” that to be true, while the second (involving temperatures and pirates) we will continue to “know” is false even though neither study…proved…anything.

Citations:

(1) - Archives of Internal Medicine: Reduced Disability and Mortality Among Aging Runners

(2) - Wikipedia: Flying Spaghetti Monster

(3) - Wikipedia: COBE Mission

New Profile Stuff

Posted by Stephen - 10/08/08 at 11:10:07 pm

We just updated the Gyminee profiles to have a couple of new settings. This had been suggested by a handful of Gyminee users, and we too felt that it would allow users to give a more personal touch to their public profiles. The new settings are an “About Me” paragraph and a “My Motto” quote. We see people regularly sharing this type of information on the Gyminee Forums, but now it can live right there on your profile page as well.

So, if you’re wanting to let people get to know you a little more, you should update your Profile Settings and fill in this new information. And as always, more cool features are coming soon, so keep checking back for updates!

Stay motivated. Have fun. Get fit.

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