Anything I can do seated?
Like the treadmill, stationary bicycles are quickly becoming a fixture in many homes. How many exercises can you think of that allows you to read, watch TV, listen to music, or talk on the phone, all in a seated position?

Stationary biking is great. It strengthens the lower body muscles and can burn extra calories (bodyfat) quite effectively. The duration’s for good biking workouts are similar to walking or jogging. If you have a speedometer on your bike try to maintain a pace of 20 to 25 mph. This pace will allow you to cover 5 miles in 15 minutes or 10 miles in 30 minutes. If one continuous pace cannot be endured, try "interval peddling". Start your activity with a 3 minute normal pace, then speed things up for 1-2 minutes. Repeat these intervals throughout the entire duration of the activity.

If you like the outdoors, and the weather permits, please don't hesitate to get out that old two-wheeler and bike outside. The passing scenery will make your activity much more enjoyable, and it may add some minutes to your total workout time. Just ride around the neighborhood. If you’d like to map out some courses, do so with specific challenges in mind like uphill climbs, flat unobstructed stretches for sprinting, or the scenic route to warm-up or cool-down. I instruct my students to avoid heavy traffic. The pollution is detrimental to your health while the obstructions can be dangerous.

As a word of caution, men are at a higher health risk while cycling than women, for obvious genital reasons. If you have any history of prostate problems or circulatory dysfunction’s to the testicles or penis, I warn you that cycling can compound these problems, or create them. Here’s my remedy (trying to keep my own jewels precious as well); rotate various activities during one workout. Instead of just biking for your entire workout time, incorporate walking, jogging, or weight training activities that get off your behind. Also, regardless of your peddling time, place some extra cushioning over that bike seat. Try these remedies and you’ll maintain that masculine deep voice.

Bring on the tunes!
Do you like dancing? I think everybody has that hidden aspiration in them of performing on stage like Fred Astaire or MC Hammer, they just won’t admit to it. Once you find out how much fun it is, and discover the many benefits you’ll receive, dancing may soon be on the top of your list.

Dancing is a recreational activity that is entertaining as well as good for you. The musical rhythms are refreshing and motivational stimulating moods of energy and constructively aggressive behavior. Dancing enhances muscular coordination, stimulates the heart, and helps shed excess pounds and inches from head to toe.

Your dance time can be spent alone (for those closet entertainers), or with someone special who can also enjoy the benefits. Groups are fun too. Join a class, or invite several friends over for a workout party--bet you never thought working-out and partying could be synonymous. Select the tunes that get you into the moods which best make your body bend, bob, wiggle, twist and shuffle. Alone or with others, dancing is a terrific activity.

Pet Peeves
Have a dog? If you do remember they also need exercise. Most dogs love to play. Take them out for a walk or jog keeping ahold of their leach as they parallel you through your workout. Most of the time you’ll be asking, "Who’s really doing the working out here?". You can also try going someplace where you can throw a ball or sticks for your pet to retrieve. You might feel like Joe Montana as throwing objects will enable you to exercise additional muscles that are not directly stressed in the aforementioned activities. So use your pet as your activity motivator, or better yet, your pace setter, this is not an illegal practice.

Childs Play
Kids? Almost everything associated with them spells energy, fun, and a stress-free life. Children have abundant supplies of energy and enthusiasm adults envy. Those of you who have children have the greatest opportunity to act and feel years younger. Remember when you were a child? Most of you enjoyed a problem-free all-fun-and-games lifestyle. Why not take your children to a local park and involve yourselves in some games or other recreational activities. Becoming actively involved with youngsters keeps you in touch with the priceless qualities of youth. Plus getting them to exercise with you is truly a gem of family bonding. For the time you can share with them, drop all the stress, negative emotions, and unnecessary chores, and make the best of these times--it’s for everyone’s advantage.

Selecting Your Own Fat Burning Activities
Below, I’ve listed a number of activities which comprise the frame-work of physical fitness. You’ll notice that many of them are accesssible to you every day.

The Activity Selection List will provide you with a number of activities from which you can choose on a day-to-day basis. Make a personal list for yourself and select the ones which are convenient, fun and beneficial. To prevent boredom, try rotating several activities throughout the course of each week.

Have you ever heard the saying, "Variety is the spice of life?" This statement can pertain to your quest for fat-reduction and better health. So spice up your life with a variety of activities and your mind and body will respond most rewardingly.

The Close Encounter
How many times have you seen people driving around in circles, impatiently searching for the closest opening to the store entrance? Are you a guilty one? When you drive to the local store, park your car at a distant stall, no matter how far away it may be. If you're really ambitious, return that shopping cart to the store instead of leaving it next to that Porche; are you guilty again? Having to walk a little further (weather permitting) can help burn extra calories, so take advantage of it.

Also, whenever possible, use stairs instead of elevators or escalators; most malls and department stores have them. I don’t need to convince you that stair climbing will burn more calories. But I will inform you that your legs, hips and buttocks will start looking remarkably better if you climb stairs regularly. To increase the intensity, try climbing stairs two steps at-a-time instead of one-at-a-time. To get really radical, drive over to the local sports stadium and walk up and down the bleachers. Ten to twenty minutes of this activity is an excellent workout.

Domestic Exercise
I realize there’s plenty of household chores you complain are a burden of life. These are the "must do’s" that most of you hate. Well let’s begin "attitude adjustment" time; What if we call these tasks power-garden planting, power-lawn mowing, or power-garage cleaning. How about power-vacuuming, or power-mopping. Have you ever approached your household chores like cool-hand Luke? If you can’t get to the gym, pretend your house is a gym. What difference is it when you do arm circles during a body limbering class compared to the motions you use to wash windows? Okay, maybe I’m bending reality a bit, but for good reasons. Daily activities, normal or unusual, can be used successfully to enhance health. So why not kill "two birds with one stone" and pursue your household activities with enthusiasm and vigor. Seeing that you have to eventually do them anyway, do them with a positive outlook that can be of benefit to your health. Now that's efficiency!

The Human Pace
Don't ever feel obligated to perform activities on the levels of others, especially if they’re in better condition and have been at it for some time. But once you've completed a throughout conditioning period, you can start becoming more aggressive and competitive, and take on tougher challenges.

Here’s an example of the typical adjustment period most humans experience with new tasks: Remember that first day on your job, when the boss was showing you all the duties you were now being paid to perform? You thought to yourself, "BOY, how am I ever going to remember all of this stuff?" You looked around and observed other employees performing the same tasks, and they were doing them very easily and without much concentration. You may have felt a little embarrassed, intimidated, or envious, but after a short time you could perform your job just as well as the others, you adjusted!