1 Ride your bike 20 - 60 minutes at least 3 times a week

2 Roller blade a couple times a week with friends

3 Running, speed walking, or wind sprints

4 Join an outdoor fitness group such as triathlon training, iron man or fitness boot camps

5 Play some frisbee football

6 Play some tennis at your local park district

7 Volley ball at the beach

8 Join a softball team

9 basketball pickup games

10 Adventure groups

There are so many things you can do to add to your gym training during the summer months. Take full advantage of the great weather not only for your fitness level, but for your social enhancement as well...

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Fitness Boot Camp is a great addition to common weight training or cardio training, by avoiding plateaus with changes in your exercise regimen. You can find out more details by visitng our boot camp page at:

www.chicagofitnesstraining.com/boot_camp_chicago

• The science of personal development.
  
• A way to attain a healthy body and mind.
  
• A discipline.
  
• Leads us towards integration.
  
• The stilling of the movements of the sub-conscious mind.
  
• Consciously living life to the best of one's ability.

You've been hitting the weights hard, running agressively on the treadmill, eating all the right foods, now what? Oh yeah, Stretching! Often left out of exercise routines due to time limitations or false reports on the negatives of stretching, Yoga can fill the gap to make your exericse routine complete. Yoga is a perfect compliment or even replacement for the lack of knowledge on stretching.

Yoga is defined as the unity of mind, body, and spirit. A fitness approach to Yoga, focuses more so on the "BODY" element, but of course not to discount mind and spirit. This type of Yoga is commonly known as Hatha Yoga, and is very popular in the modern era of gyms. In fact, it may surprise you to know that many college and pro sports teams require their players to participate in Hatha Yoga during the off season in order to maintain flexibility, for the high amount of performance needed during the next upcoming season.

Yoga in general teaches the body to perform all three major actions of contractions at once; namely, eccentically, isometrically, and concentrically contract. This makes Yoga a total body experience rather than isolating certain muscles in sacrafice of others. It would do you well to become familiar with "The Sun Salutations" which is the common introduction to most Yoga Classes.

The Sun Salutations is my personal stretch routine 3 days a week after weight training, 12 basic Asanas (poses) that only takes 10 minutes to perform. The common length of gym Yoga classes run anywhere from 60 - 90 minutes. However, out side of the sun salutations, you can pick up any Yoga video or DVD in just about any store that will run about 20 minutes.

If you feel that you're lacking flexibility, or can already admit that you just have not payed enough attention to your flexibility needs, then give Yoga an effort. You may find that Hatha Yoga is in fact the missing link to your fitness needs and goals.

Chicago Fitness Training offers private and group Yoga training for your convenience, both in home and in a gym studio setting. Feel free to contact us, and be sure to visit our Yoga Page at the following link: www.chicagofitnesstraining.com/yoga_instructors

SUPINE KNEES UP (REVERSE CRUNCH)

Reps : 8-16 Sets : 3-4 super sets Intensity : 60-70% intensity Tempo : 3/1/2 Rest : 30 seconds

BACK EXTENSION

Reps : 8-16 Sets : 3-4 super sets Intensity : 60-70% intensity Tempo : 3/1/2 Rest : 30 seconds

CHEST PRESS - WITH LUNGE (FREE MOTION)

Reps : 8-16 Sets : 3-4 super sets Intensity : 60-70% intensity Tempo : 3/1/2 Rest : 30 seconds

ROW - STANDING (FREE MOTION)

Reps : 8-16 Sets : 3-4 super sets Intensity : 60-70% intensity Tempo : 3/1/2 Rest : 30 seconds

SCAPTION - STANDING WITH DUMBBELL

Reps : 8-16 Sets : 3-4 super sets Intensity : 60-70% intensity Tempo : 3/1/2 Rest : 30 seconds

LUNGE - FORWARD

Reps : 8-16 Sets : 3-4 super sets Intensity : 60-70% intensity Tempo : 3/1/2 Rest : 30 seconds

BICEP CURL - SQUAT

Reps : 8-16 Sets : 3-4 super sets Intensity : 60-70% intensity Tempo : 3/1/2 Rest : 30 seconds

LUNGE - FORWARD W/ TRICEPS EXTENSION

Reps : 8-16 Sets : 3-4 super sets Intensity : 60-70% intensity Tempo : 3/1/2 Rest : 30 seconds

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Aside from the age factor, we find it harder to make time for fitness once we leave the comforts of school and part time jobs for long day careers and newly developed families. Even still, time must be set aside for your fitness just as the right type of meals should be prepared for your health. Your workouts may need to take a different approach of course from the prime college days. Rather than working torwards optimal strength for your given sport, you may want to start looking towards mobility exercises in combination with strength routines.

Here are some examples:

1. A flat bench chest press in combo with a standing cable chest press with lunge

2. A stomach crunch in combo with a standing cable trunk twist (see photo above)

3. A seated dumbell arm curl in combo with a dumbell squat and arm curl

These are a few examples of how basic strength can be integrated with full range exercises, that will help maintain basic mobility and flexibilty. For more detailed info on this topic, visit my web site which carries a high volume of free information on fitness. www.chicagofitnesstraining.com

Fitness is basically defined by how or what our body look like on the outside. A trim or muscular appearance, large or well sculpted muscles, or by what our body can do in performance such as, run with rapid speed or very long distance, jump twist and turn, lift heavy amounts of weights. Being fit certainly does improve your chances of proper health, as physical activity helps to keep your weight down, improves heart function and blood flow, increases oxygen consumption, and certainly can add to your external look or sexual appeal.

Health on the other hand can be defined by whats inside our body. Or better, by what we put inside ourselves. Fruits or potato chips, lean poultry and fish or deep fried fast foods, water or soda, vitamins or cigarettes. These are the things that we ourselves have total control over in terms of our health. Which items we place in ourselves determines our LIFESTYLE. Of course some difficulties related to health are out of our control to some degree such as family related diseases you may have been born with such as certain types of cancers or diabetes to name a couple, but even then our LIFESTYLE can help to be able to live a longer healthier life or make matters worse. In fact, if you are fortunate enough to have been born free of health complications, a negative LIFESTYLE certainly can open the door to health complications later in life.

The bottom line is this, be smart about the LIFESTYLE you choose. You are what you eat (ingest into your body), and what you eat (ingest into your body), certainly will have an effect on whether you achieve fitness and how soon you can achieve it. Eating fast foods and smoking cigarettes while following an exercise regimen, certainly will slow down your progess if you gain any at all. That being said, better to exercise anyway and give yourself a small chance at fitness, if your having a hard time following proper eating habits and quiting smoking, but that certainly does not put you in a healthy category.

Daily exericse of a minimum 20 minutes, proper eating 80% of the time, avoiding smoking and drug use, and remaining stress free gives you the best chances of Health and Fitness.

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Look far enough ahead of time to give yourself ample time for training. Usually three months of training is necessary for any sporting or athletic event.

Here's a list of some popular searches for todays amateur athlete:

• Iron man competition
• Triathlon
• 3k, 5k, and 10k Marathon
• Bike Riding Competition

This is just to name a few popular contests that are held year round across the country. For a listing of Chicago events click here: www.chicagofitnesstraining.com/chicago_events_calendar