Category Archives: Equipment

Cardio Xiser Portable Stepper Machine

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Xiser Pro Cardio Machine. I like the Pro model since the commercial stepper is designed to handle more work and more heat. It can handle as much work as any athlete can produce!

Even if you do not have access to a gym, there are plenty of options for in-home cardio or interval workouts.

One of my favorite options for home, office, dorm, boat or RV workouts is the Xiser portable stepper machine. It folds to a flat 4-inch piece of metal for easy storage or portability.

Follow this link to the retail site and use the discount coupon code maria35 in the shopping cart for a $15 dollar discount on each new Xiser Stepper you purchase from Xiser Industries.

The way the hydraulic system is made in Xiser products is totally different from other  steppers. It is heavy duty and is the perfect high quality machine for doing high intensity interval workouts!

High intensity workouts get you fit fast! And I am talking minutes a day.

Studies prove a few minutes of HIIT training is as effective as much longer periods of moderate.

HIIT training involves short high effort exercise for 30 to 60 seconds followed by one-to-two-minute active recovery periods.

To learn more about high intensity interval training, also called HIIT, go here where I go more into detail and explain all about HIIT training, what the benefits are and how you do HIIT training correctly.

Discount Promo Coupon Code for Xiser Stepper.

Save $15  for each Portable Stepper purchased from Xiser

Follow this link to the retail site and use the discount coupon code maria35 in the shopping cart for a $15 dollar discount on each new Xiser Stepper you purchase from Xiser Industries.

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Gym in a Bag Travel Workout with Bands

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As a dietitian and personal trainer, I am committed to my personal fitness goals and showing others how they can be too, in any situation. Even on a sailboat in a remote bay!

One of my strategies is to take a “gym in a  bag” workout band set with me when I travel on our sailboat. It allows me to get a great workout, and maintain my fitness and weight even if I am away from my gym. And it is a bargain price!

I like to use a mat but prefer a smaller kids mat or a folding travel mat to save space in the boat. I’ve linked to the ones I suggest below.

Doing a chest press on our boat in Echo Bay, Sucia Island, Washington.

For more about my travel workouts when I sail go to this post.

For more “travel no equipment workouts” go to this post.

For simple tips to keep in shape when you travel go to this post.

Here is a workout you can do with your bands. Select a color of band that you can perform the exercise with good, safe technique with the amount of repetitions according to your goals. Please wear glasses to protect your eyes when using your bands in the event one breaks.

The American College of Sports Medicine gives guidelines for the amount of repetitions depending on your goal. For each exercise, 8-12 repetitions improve strength and power, 10-15 repetitions improve strength in middle-age and older persons starting exercise, and 15-20 repetitions improve muscular endurance.

I suggest trying this at one first before your trip so that you are familiar with how to do the exercises. Then you can more easily adapt your setup to the boat. I have an eye hook and a carabiner like the one shown below that can take a 400 pound load safely.

Type Exercise Anchor Point Band Color
Warm Up Walk for 10 minutes
Quad Squat Under Feet
Ham Lying Hamstring Curl Bottom Side Of Door
Back Standing Back Row Middle Side Of Door
Chest Standing Chest Press Middle Side Of Door
Hips/Glutes Standing Lateral Walk Under Feet
Biceps Standing Biceps Curl Under Feet
Triceps Triceps Overhead Extension Top Side Of Door
Shoulders Standing Lateral Raise Under Feet
Rear Shoulder Seated High Row Bottom Side Of Door
Rotator Cuff External Rotation, sit Bottom Side Of Door
Calves Anchored Calf Raise Bottom Side Of Door
Core Stability Drawing-In Maneuver Progressions Floor
Core Standing Core Rotation Middle Side Of Door
Core Anti-Rotation Band Press Out Middle Side Of Door
Low Back Bird Dog Floor
Shin Toe Raises Sitting on chair

 

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Heart Rate Monitor Review

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The best way to improve your fitness and see your results is to train at the right intensity. A heart rate monitor is the easiest and the most accurate way to measure exercise intensity so that you know when to safely push harder and when to slow down. It provides a simple, yet highly accurate gauge for getting the most from your exercise sessions. Using a heart rate monitor will motivate you with measurable fitness results and make exercise safer and help you achieve your personal fitness goals faster.

The Polar Heart Rate monitors are the best on the market. They are amongst the most accurate, easy to use, comfortable and reliable monitors on the market while being reasonably priced.

The model I recommend to my clients is the FT7. Click here to purchase on Amazon. It offers useful basic features and it has sporty good looks and has a price tag that anyone can afford, not just pro athletes. It comes in several colors, bronze, silver, red and hot pink.

The FT7 features a big display to display heart rate, maximum heart rate, exercise time, time in target zone, and time of day. It calculates your target heart zone to help you train safely and effectively. It has a stop watch feature and an alarm with snooze function. The audible and visual alarm features are there to remind you when you have moved out of your zone.

Here are detailed instructions on how to use it.

It keeps a record of up to 10 training workouts. So this is a great way for you to keep track of your progress. The FT7 keeps track of calories burned during a session and cumulatively over time, maximum heart rate, exercise time, time in target zone and many others by doing automatic calculations.

The FT7 has a coded heart rate transmission so that it doesn’t interfere with other heart rate monitors that are near you.

It’s water resistant so you can wear it with confidence when you swim or get caught in the rain.

One of the convenient new capabilities is that you can change the battery yourself. Previously a battery change required a trained technician.

The Polar FT7 heart rate monitor is a great tool for athletes that are looking to train and analyze progress over time and those who want basic heart rate-based features to keep their fitness training simple.

 

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